Feb 07, 2020 (Analyticawire) -- Collaboration Market is up for grabs!
Over the last few years this arena which not long ago was the monopoly of few players like Slack, Microsoft Teams, has seen the entrance of giant, medium and small enterprises and vying for their place with innovative ideas and technological solutions. Since its inception in 2013 Slack has redefined the rules of business messaging. The game of one-up-man-ship has given rise to self-hosted Slack alternatives rightfully reaching out to the user community.

According to a report published by MarketsandMarkets, the enterprise collaboration market is projected to grow at a compounded growth rate of 9.2%. By 2024 the market size is expected to reach a staggering $48.1 billion.

The enterprise collaboration market owes its healthy growth to the rise in mobile devices and networking websites usage. The phenomenal spurt in usage and popularity of social networking platforms has revved up cross-department collaboration. With BYOD - Bring Your Own Device- and Voice Over Internet Protocol becoming a norm in the IT and allied organizations, more smart solutions are required to secure and manage multiple devices. This in turn will call for higher investments towards designing and implementing these solutions.

The concept of on-premise hardware and software infrastructure has taken a walk out of the window into the Cloud. A host of software capabilities, middleware, data, and applications are being increasingly developed, used, stored and retrieved from the cloud. While this proved to be a big blessing it was not without its downside too. Security has become a major issue as more and more cases of data breaches surfaced. The mother of necessity played its part in the unveiling of self-hosted chat servers.

The flood gates for the self-hosting option opened with business chat apps flooding the collaboration market. From mega-tech companies to emerging market darlings like Troop Messenger, several entities are making their presence felt in the collaboration market strongly. The robust and heightened security threshold makes Troop Messenger a to-go app for many large enterprises and government and has firmly placed it as a great self-hosted Slack alternative.

Troop Messenger, a rare and user-friendly office chat app as it addresses modern business needs and necessities by being offered both as a SaaS as well as a self-hosted app. Unlike most competitors, Troop Messenger can be downloaded and hosted on private servers. This ensures the chat logs and all sensitive data pertaining to users are "safe" with the user - in their private and internal infrastructure.

Troop Messenger (Self-Hosted model) is a favorite among Defense and some other Government agencies where they operate in a private cloud (not requiring them to have internet).

Troop Messenger's ‘Burnout’ allows a user to chat with another user which gets automatically deleted after a fixed time. User authentication through fingerprint and password makes Troop Messenger a versatile chat app with a high accent on security.
To ensure a 360-degree communication with all the stakeholders of the entity, users of Troop Messenger have the option of inviting and adding non-employees like vendors and customers for seamless collaboration.

Several other features like Live Location Tracking allow users to share their real-time location with the participants of an individual chat for a specific amount of time. This feature truly provides real-time communication with field staff as well as enables managers to keep a tab on the movement of the staff. Or consider its Forkout feature which allows the user to send a text message to multiple individual participants or to multiple groups, at a single point of time. Troop Messenger is AI-driven as is evidenced by features like predetermined and frequently used responses.

Users of Troop Messengers are ensured of privacy, compliance and secrecy and a very high degree of flexibility and control. With data firmly in their control, the risk of downtime of Troop Messenger is literally zero- a great bonus in the severely competitive collaboration market.

Self-hosted servers provide a great solution to the vexatious problem of data security. Spearheaded by Slack self-hosting has become the rage as more and more enterprises shied away from using third-party platforms and adapted the self-hosting model. Government departments and big corporations thought it wise to move their sensitive data to a more controlled and restricted option of self-hosted servers.

According to Verified Market Research, the global application hosting market was valued at USD 43.87 Billion in 2018 and is projected to reach USD 108.69 Billion by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 12% from 2019 to 2026.

Buoyed by the impetus from the discerning customers- both big corporations and governments- Troop Messenger is on the move towards emerging as a major player in this multi-billion dollar market. Look out for its hockey-stick growth graph in the ensuing months.

Originally Published at Troop Messenger 

Music in the workplace is seen as one of the most important aspects of the Workplace. Without it, work can be a bit dull and monotonous. While entertainment is mainly the purpose of music, recent studies and research attest that music impacts many things in one’s work, including focus and productivity.

Benefits of Music 

For many years now, music has been seen to offer numerous benefits to people who listen and utilize music. Aside from stirring emotions and memories, music can enhance mental performances and even cognitive functions. And this is probably one of the main reasons why parents send their kids to music lessons as young as possible.

There also studies today that state that music can help heal certain conditions. And this is why music is now used in therapies, hence, the so-called music therapy.

It is important to note that music is therapeutic in nature. So, it is only logical why music is linked with many healing properties and wonders. But, in terms of mental performances, both experts and scholars are certain that music can help people become more productive. This is why organizations should encourage employees to listen to curated playlists on Spotify for instance. To enable employees to access these playlists, companies can create a dynamic QR Code using an online QR Code generator that links to a Spotify playlist which can be updated as needed.

 How Listening Music Can Help You Be More Productive

If you aren’t convinced yet, or you haven’t experienced the wonders of music in terms of your productivity, here are some points that you may ponder on as to how listening to music may help:

 Ambient Noise May Be the Creative Sweet Spot

According to studies, ambient noise helps people become more creative. It is found that music at this level allows the mind to produce its “creative juices.” The way it works is through the processing difficulty.

Based on studies, it shows that music at the ambient noise level helps the brain in increasing its processing ability. This is what you will need in order to promote abstract processing. As a result, you become a lot more creative.

Repetitive Task Are Made More Pleasurable

Repetitive tasks are some of the reasons why people get tired or lazy easily. Aside from its monotonous nature, the task becomes boring, which negatively impacts productivity. But, thanks to music, experts learned that listening to music makes repetitive tasks more pleasurable.

The conclusion has been presented by Daniel Levitin, who happens to be a neuroscientist and the author of the popular book titled, This Is Your Brain OnMusic. A study was also conducted before which showed the same angles. It focused on surgeons and doctors who take on repetitive surgeries. And with music, it made the whole experience a lot more pleasurable and fulfilling.

Acts as a Motivational Factor

Another reason why music helps people become more productive is because it acts as a motivational factor. Based on general reception, it seemingly appears that almost everyone can relate to this point.

This is also probably the basis why people tend to prefer to listen to music when they feel low and stressed. As it happens, it boosts one’s motivation and determination to do tasks and perform activities. And the more motivated you feel, the more you become productive.

Helps Improve Cognitive Ability

Whether you simply listen to music or utilize it like those individuals who take guitar lessons and piano lessons, it is found that these activities can improve cognitive functions and abilities. For some reason, music has the ability to improve brain functions in totality.

Accordingly, when one’s ability is improved, such as a better thinking process, faster analysis, greater comprehension, productivity easily follows through.

Improves Abstract Reasoning

In relation to improving cognitive functions and ability, music is also found to improve abstract reasoning and logical thinking. This is why music is encouraged to young ones, especially those who are intending to improve their academic performances in math and science.

There is also a study linking music with creating abstraction. In the study, it is explained how abstraction is different from abstract reasoning. Even so, music is still seen as a great training ground for both entities.

It is worth noting that people who have better abstract reasoning and have better abilities to work with abstracts are great in solving and analyzing complex problems. Accordingly, when certain tasks get even more challenging, productivity can be widely observed as it will not induce any struggle that may hamper one’s ability to accomplish the task at hand.

 Type of Music For Productivity

It has been already established how music can help you with your focus and productivity. While it is preferred and recommended to utilize and work with your favorite music or tracks, studies and research suggest that there are those types of music that are more beneficial in improving productivity. These are the following

Classical Music

Classical music is said to help every individuals’ concern about mental performance and cognitive functions. But, in terms of productivity, classical music is also found to be very effective.

Some of the best tracks under this genre that are great for improving productivity include:

• III. Rondo-allegro – Piero Barbareschi

• Piano Concerto in B-Flat Major – Ewa Kupiec

• Brandenburg Concertos – Bach

• Four Seasons – Vivaldi

Ambient Soundtracks

Ambient soundtracks have a special point given above as to how this type of music can help you with your productivity. But, if you are looking for specific tracks and materials, here are some of the best ambient sounds you may want to try:

• Rain or Forest sounds

• Night, Cricket, and Swamp Sounds

• Water Sounds

• Office and Traffic Sounds

Epic Music

Epic music is one of the most underrated genres. As it happens, only a few people are familiar with this. But, epic music is simply the type that evokes certain moods. While it features elements of classical music, it’s pretty different as it tells a story in its course.

• We Stand In Silence – Twelve Titans Music

• Arrival To Earth – Steve Jablonsky

• Neon Paradise – Ivan Torrent

Final Thoughts

All in all, here are the points as to how music can help you become more productive. Although these things are pretty theoretical, you can try it on your own with the tracks given in this piece. If you’re feeling too tired to go on with your tasks, try listening to the sample tracks and see it for yourself.

Times have changed and so as the technology.

Who needs a pen or paper or those hefty sketching tools when you can draw and design better stuff on Graphic Design Softwares?

Gone are the days when a task of designing would take days and sometimes weeks to accomplish. Thanks to the software like Canva, Desygner, Logo Maker, Adobe Illustrator, the task of designing graphics has become less tedious. Moreover, nobody has enough time to wait for physical design and they get on with the process.

Softwares like those consist of better and more intuitive graphic content that can be readily put into work. The graphic content that these applications provide has been designed considering the needs of the user. A person can find a design from creating a letter to designing a book cover, from creating motivational quotes to forming a resume.

There is’n’ number of graphic design apps available on PlayStore, AppStore that one can make use of any of this software to accomplish their task.

From creating a website logo to printing brochures of a company product, graphic design tools are the most sought-after solutions.

 Following is the list of the best graphic design software:

Adobe Photoshop

Adobe Photoshop CC is widely used by the professional artists, photographers, and graphic designers to design websites, logos, icons, flyers, posters, brochures, banners, comics, cover pages and digital magazines.

With Extensive features of cropping, pigments, text boxes and enhancements, Adobe Photoshop CC is still a favourite application to design graphics for any purpose whether professional or recreational.

This graphic designing software can be used on a mobile phone.

Highlights:

• Symmetry Mode for defining axes

• Content-Aware fill experience

• Frame tool for creating shapes and text frames

• Fast cropping and transform using auto-commit

• Access to all assets within the app and synced devices

Pricing: Photography Plan Starts at $676 per month.

Adobe Illustrator CC

An industry-based vector graphic designing software and the best graphic designing tool of 2019, Adobe Illustrator CC is used globally by the graphic designers or users to create imaginative graphic designs, illustrations for printing, web designing or video media.

Because of an efficient designing of 2D and 3D graphics and in-built templates, graphic designers consider it the best software for all kinds of media.

Highlights:

• Gorgeous Typography

• Freehand Drawing

• Seamless Integration with other Cloud apps

• Freeform Gradient to add rich colour

• Customizable toolbar

 Pricing: $29.99 per month

Inkscape

Inkscape is another best graphic designing software of 2019 with features like Mesh Gradient, Conical Gradient, Envelope and perspective, Mirror symmetry, B- Splines and Selection sets.

These features enable the graphic designer to create a realistic design with interactive effects and warping texts with the help of LPEs (Envelope and Perspective).

These features are in for finer and better pigmentation and creative control.

Highlights:

• Color Selector, Gradient editor, Filling, and Stroking 

• Object Creation withdrawing, shape tools, clones, and embedded bitmaps

• Text Support, letter spacing, Kerning, and line spacing adjustment

• Rendering

• Node ending, Path simplification

• File Format

 Pricing: Free and Open Source

Canva

A cloud-based (SaaS) graphic designing software allows to create and design beautiful, imaginative designs.

With an extensive collection of more than 8000 templates designed specifically for almost every social media platform presentation, professional use, Canva provides the user or graphic designer with a customized graphic designing technique.

Canva includes more than 100 font styles, template editing as per requirement (both professional and recreational), quotes creations and marketing designs. This software can be used on a mobile phone.

Highlights:

• Access to thousands of templates

• Access to millions of photos

• Photo Organization into folders

• Uploading own photos and custom fonts 

• Export photos as GIFs

• Download designs without background

• 
   Pricing: Canva Pro Plan Starts at $12.95 per month.

Design Wizard

Design Wizard is another tastefully crafted graphics designing software for creating interactive and great image content.

It is free for use and does not need any subscription charges. With simple and easy licensing terms, the software can be used after one-time payment without any further payments or renewal of the license.

Design Wizard users can browse through more than 1 million inbuilt templates and images to create infographic content for presentations, marketing material, reports, posters and flyers, brochures or banners and logos. It can be used for commercial as well as individual use.

Highlights:

• Unlimited Image Templates 

• Upload font and Images

• Design, Edit, Resize images

• Personal Color Palette

• Free Premium Videos

• Reseller Rights

• Post to Social Media

 Pricing: $37.50 per month 

SVG-Edit

Another vector graphics designing software, SVG- Edit is free software that can run on any/ all the browsers.

This software can make conversions of its files into any format: JPG, BMP, PNG. Its main features include various font styles for beautiful text, shapes to path conversions and illustrations of freestyle drawings.

This JavaScript-powered graphic designing tool creates drawings with a programmatic approach.

Highlights:

• Freehand Drawing and lines

• Raster images 

• Alignment and Zoom

• Layers and Wireframe mode

• Stylable text

 Pricing: Free Plan

Onshape

A graphic designing tool created for use by manufacturers, architects, engineers, and professional designers. Onshape enables a 3D CAD model designing with a team collaborative feature, along with 2D drawings.

Onshape has a secure database that allows the team members to work closely on the project with in-app editing and multiple modeling.

For commercial use, it is available for $1000 per user annually. This software can be used on mobile phones.

Highlights:

• Full cloud

• Assembly and Part modeling

• Sharing and Collaboration

• Data Management

• Real-time analytics

• Drawings

 Pricing: Standard Starts at $1500 per year.

Venngage

With over 21000 companies as its users, Venngage is prominently used to create reports, presentations, charts, posters, and marketing gubbins.

Best suited for creating advertising material or branding of the product, Venngage enables the graphic designer to create interactive infographics. With a varied range of customizable inbuilt templates, Venngage is one of the best graphic designing tools for publishing the content on websites, social media. Its educational use is free but for the commercial use, this software costs $49 per month per individual.

Highlights:

• Multiple Templates

• Add charts and Visual

• Customization features

• Presentation, Poser, Newsletter, Brochure, and Flyer 

• 24/7 Support

 Pricing: Business Plan Starts at $49 per month 

Piktochart

Piktochart is another best graphic designing software, best used to create presentations, reports, infographics, charts, and interactive content.

With more than 600 inbuilt templates, one can use this graphic designing software to create printable content. Piktochart offers various plans for individual, commercial, educational and team project purposes.

It is one of the easiest infographic designer tools; constitutes quite a huge content library which includes templates and various themes.

Highlights:

• Infographics

• Presentations

• Printable posters, flyers, reports

• Template for every need 

• Creative Collaboration

 Pricing: Pro Plan Starts at $24.17 per month

Pixlr

Pixlr comprised of four applications: Pixlr X, Pixlr Editor, Pixlr Express and Pixar Pro make Pixar the most desirable software for image editing.

High-quality editing, image fixing, professional level pigmentations, and enhancements make this software a wonderful tool for an even more wonderful image editing.

Pixlr software can work on any browser and is compatible for almost every device. With a comprehensive array of tools, it maintains the professional quality of the images. Its subscription charges are reasonable and are available to everyone.

Highlights:

• Dark and Light mode selection

• 10,000+ Stock Photos and Templates

• Refine Edge Tool

• Smart Healing tool 

 Pricing: Free Plan and Paid Plan Starting at $5 per month

Sumo Paint

Sumo Paint is another best graphic design software of 2019. This software is an extensive, advanced painting and image editor application with a great interface. This interface and a wonderful retina resolution make the Sumo Paint software the best image editor.

Its basic features include all the features that Inkscape provides i.e. Warping text, lattice, and gradients. In addition to those features, it’s got brush styles, brush effects, image adjustments and blur effects which make it a very good painting software for beginners as well as professionals.

Sumo Paint has got 4 million users to its credit for having the best website design tools.

Highlights:

• Filters and image manipulators 

• Painting tools with over 300 brushes

• Shape tools and Symmetry creations

• Online Community

• Gradient Editor

• Layer Effect and Sumo File Format

• Perspective and Bump Mapping

 Pricing: Free Plan and Paid Plan Starting at $4 per month 

DAZ Studio

DAZ Studio is a dynamic, well featured 3D graphic designing software that enables the designers to create 3D images, animations, and illustrations.

Its vast array of tools allows the user to create and customize the characters, scenes, image- posing with facial expressions and humanised movements. It is a software that enables the creation of a unique 3D art. Some of the extensive features are 3D Printing, Hexagon Modelling application, morphing techniques, facial expressions, and realistic figures, comprehensive characters.

Highlights:

• Dress Modeling

• Auto Covers to Vray

• Detailed Characters

• Hexagon Delete Accessory

• Realistic Human Figures

 Pricing: $29.95 per month 

DrawPlus

Another vector graphic designing software developed by Serif is widely used for creating animations and image editing. With a huge array of illustrations tools, graphics can be created with lines and curves.

In addition to vector-based software tools, DrawPlus has got brush styles and brush effects to paint. With an option to create a customized paintbrush with a required thickness, colour, and opaqueness.

This software enables modifications in the gradients, texts and objects. This software contains more than 670 font styles and 48 filters for enhancements and pigmentations.

Highlights:

• B-Spline Curves

• Hairlines & HiDPI 

• New Quick Shapes

• Rostrum Camera & Smart Sizing

• Customising & EPS Export

• Vector Fills & Vector Flood Fill

  Pricing: Not Available

PhotoWorks

With best graphics features for the photographers, PhotoWorks enable a user to make his/ her already beautiful photos even better with retouching, brushing, filter adjustments, glare-eliminating, landscapes views, watermarks, cropping and colour enhancements.

The photos can be transformed into something beautiful despite them being photographed in poor light or poor focus or too much glare and blemishes. PhotoWorks comes off as the software for better image content.

Highlights:

• Quick Image adjustments

• Drawing and Scribbling on the photos

• Photo Retouching

• Filters and Elements for enhanced editing 

 Pricing: Not Available 

 AutoDesk Sketchbook Pro

One of the most loved graphics designing apps by the architects, automobile engineers and product designers, AutoDesk Sketchbook’s best features account for a simplistic usage and quick illustrations of the sketches.

With no need of using pen and paper, one can design and make their sketches on this software with all device compatibility.

The files in the sketchbook can be exported in JPG, PSD, BMP and TIFF formats. Its full features version is now available free whether for educational or professional purposes.

Highlights:

• Draw without distraction

• Drawing engine with 100 mpx canvas

• Paper to digital Scan

• Sync through all devices

• 190 customizable brushes

• PSD compatible

 Pricing: Enterprise Plan Starts at $85 per year

Final Words:

With the help of good graphic design software, it is easy for people to create unique content with their watermarks, thereby ensuring the security against content theft.

Graphics Designing software is the most eligible applications to ensure cost-effectiveness, ease, time-saving in graphic designing.

The individual or the company is in full control of their designs and this software enable in-app multiple editing. To fully exploit content marketing, get the best graphic design software today. 

In order for a business to thrive and meet deadlines and exceed the goals of the bottom line of a company, it is essential to have a decent enterprise social network, aka the business chat app or team chat app where all the members can converse at one place to keep the network in sync.

 If you are not using an enterprise application among your team, chances are that team communication is not productive enough which is the backbone of any business.

Communication is the only thing that leads to a community.

Poor communication in the workplace will eventually lead to friction, confusion and the serious drop in productivity levels. Communication is the key to achieve productivity and maintain a strong and healthy relationship irrespective of the role the person possesses in the office.

Gone are the days, where people used boring phone calls, video conferences, emailing service which craves for a subject and specific format to connect with the team.

The one-stop abode to destroy all these obstacles is ‘chat.’ Hands down! Chat simplifies everything. You could type a quick message without following any pattern and get a short reply even as an emoticon signifying that the work is done. This is simple, reliable, and compatible. 

Now, every organization needs a business application where the members no longer need to search for a co-worker’s email id. Everyone is just a tap away.

All you have to do is just say hello! Team chat applications must consist of features like screen sharing, video chat, and the best search filters which save time and upshot in the team productivity in the organization. As there are many business chat apps on the market, is happens to get confused to choose the one with all the features.

 For your comfort, we have listed the 5 Google Hangouts Alternative/Replacement that maximized your team productivity:

A name that doesn’t need any introduction. Slack is one of the best team communication apps that allow the user to sort conversation into channels that can be integrated with other services.

It quickly became one of the popular ways to connect with a group as it works on multiple platforms and interfaces. Slack is the prime reason for becoming ‘bot’ a buzzword. You can build customized slack bots with available tools. The one thing we have to mention about Slack is the feature that has the ability to manage notifications for keywords.

If we dig more, Slack even has customizable themes, emoji-based reactions, and reminders. The reason why Slack has become popular is, they offered Slack for free when its competitors did not.

 Available On: iOS, Android, macOS, Linux, and Web 

  Fleep (New Hangouts alternative)

Fleep is a new block in the industry that performs quite well in bringing all the employees at one place. With Fleep, users can have a one-on-one conversation, group creation with emoticons, photos, videos, gifs and even maps in a professional overtone.

The best part about Fleep is that it allows you to video conference with hundreds of other, unlike Skype which allows you to add only 10 in a conference. As it is synced up with all platforms, everything would be in a synchronized mode.

On top of everything, you can turn your conversation into a video call with just a tap and it offers 10 GB file storage in the basic plan itself. Probably, which is why it is the demigod of the virtual world.

 Available On: iOS, Android, macOS, Linux, and Web 

 Flock (Simple Hangouts alternative)

Flock is a simple, secure and white-collar corporate application that lets you integrate with as many outside services as you want.

It makes the communication seamless and enhanced the speed of execution which is a major part of any business. It is the ideal collaboration tool at work as it has management features like sharing, video conferencing, audio calls, polls, reminders and many more.

Slack could be the dominant player but there are other small replacements for Slack for a lesser price. Flock is one such application that almost proved that there are better collaborations than email.

 Available On: iOS, Android, macOS, Linux, and Web

 Stride (Acquired by slack)

Stride ( formerly HipChat ) is one of the fast-growing solutions for enterprise chat apps as it allows file sharing through various windows such as web, mobile and desktop computers.

Stride allows the users to format and edit the messages you sent. You can mark certain messages as tasks and find them on your chat sidebar. You can even customize your status to let the team members know whether you are available or indulged in some work which enhances to keep the focus on the work you are doing without any buzz of notifications.

 Available On: iOS, Android, macOS, Linux, and Web

Conclusion

These business chat apps can increase team efficiency by providing seamless interaction despite having distinct geographic boundaries and time zones and accomplish the projects on time.

Better communication creates better solutions!

Enterprise collaboration platforms act as a gateway to connect team members of the organization and to the wide number of users across the globe. A single platform mingles all at one place to build empowering solutions to the world!

Technology is primarily engaging people, a possible reason why we see an immense rise of chat collaboration applications these days. The ultimate use could be personal or workplace engagement- tools are available for every need at every place to stay always connected.

The results of poor communication across teams could prove expensive to the organization. To attend such situations, we have many enterprise-ready chat applications like Yammer, Slack, Flock, etc., to ensure the best business productivity.

People knew Yammer since 2008 when it has been launched at the TechCrunch50 by one of the founders David Sacks. Later in the year, 2012 Yammer has been acquired by Microsoft for US$1.2 billion.

Slack has been launched in the year 2013 with more than 30% of paying customers. It is a cloud-based application that serves all team sizes founded by Steward Butterfield.

Though teams are segregated as per project, client, remote location, or based on geographical area, these collaboration tools keep them connected.

And in case, where if teams of the entire organization would want to communicate with each other; to ascertain this scenario, we have a private social networking team collaboration application like Yammer to fill this gap.

Slack has also been integrated into a myriad number of social media networks to stay upgraded.

Having said this, it is time to draw upon the differences between the two for facilitating informed decision making. Take a look.

 Product Tour – Which application has a seamless workflow approach?

Yammer-Product Tour  

Yammer is available across diverse platforms such as Windows, Mac and Mobile phones. It is a part of your Office 365 suite and comes in the variants of  Yammer users, Yammer groups and Yammer networks. Yammer is exclusively built to have its presence in both internal organization’s users and external networks. The latest entrant in the block is its Windows desktop application, which enables the easiest way to join group conversations.

Yammer is a tough competitor when it comes to ranking the best social network for the workplace where it brings remote teams together. The sign-up process of Yammer is quite simple. Anyone can simply connect with this private social networking application with their work email. Yammer sends a verification mail to a new user to complete the sign-up process. Once you login to the application, Yammer asks you to join the relevant groups to keep you updated.

 With Yammer, you can:

• Write your first post

• Follow your co-workers

• Start a Group

• Check your Inbox

• Check Private Messages

• Check Notifications

• Browse External Networks

• Create a new network and invite people.

• View recently accessed files.

Slack – Product Tour

“A single workspace for your small-to-medium size company or team”, is what Slack Says. Small organizations or teams can rely on Slack totally for an unlimited period of time. Based upon the pricing plans the users choose, they can create a wide number of workspaces and switch between them, and also could share channels among diverse workspaces.

The hassle-free sign-up process allows a new user to join an existing workspace or a new workspace with any of the public domain mail ids. Slack facilitates an URL for each workspace, and now the Slack users can log in to the application with these workspace URLs. With Slack, your teams are better connected with all the information being transferred just at their fingertips. The project name you give at the time of the Sign-up process can be seen as a channel within the application's interface.

With Slack, you can:

• Add Public and Private Channels

• Invite people

• Talk with Slack bots

• Integrate a wide range of Apps

• Install Google Drive

• Check Analytics

• Customize Slack

• Sign into another workspace

• Access the application with feature-based keyboard shortcuts.

Our Verdict

Yammer allows the users to prioritize conversations and announcements through Inbox from the application itself, whereas we don’t see this provision for Slack.

 Features Comparisons – Who is the leader?

Yammer

One of the primary functionalities of Yammer would be connecting and engaging people across organizations via private social networks. An exclusive social networking platform for businesses and companies to communicate on myriad topics of the world! The users can toggle between Discovery, All and Following feeds to view the conversations.

Few Functional Features:

• Secure and transparent communication across teams to organize projects.

• Simple to use UI and easy to understand UX.

• Offers two kinds of networks: internal and external.

• Each internal network is allotted with one primary email domain.

• Integrates with other tools of Office365.

• Invite people to join networks.

• People Directory to send an invite

• Like or share conversations across groups.

• Poll and Post

Slack

Communication in Slack happens through channels and it supports a vast app directory to enhance teams collaboration. It offers high-end data security like 2FA and SSO to protect all your organization’s information. Slack keeps a back-up of your work for further retrieval through Archiving feature.

Few Functional Features:

• Organized Conversations

• Private and Public channels

• Searchable message history

• Slack app directory with more than 1500 apps to integrate.

• Voice and Video calls.

• Screen Sharing

• Configure Slack to suit your business needs.

• High-level data encryption while in transit.

• Admin-level settings and permissions

Our Verdict

Though Yammer is simple to use, Slack’s feature-stack is quite vast, powerful and functional. For better team communication, we might need highly workable and convincing collaboration features like Troop Messenger.

Pricing Comparisons – Can Slack replace Yammer?

Yammer

Yammer comes absolutely free with its basic version for an unlimited amount of time. Any user can log into Yammer with their work email id and add other co-workers to start conversations across the internal and external networks.

• Subscription to Office 365 is not required to start using Yammer.

• But, of course, to gain enterprise and administrative access, one needs to purchase an Office 365 suite license.

   

Slack

Slack as a freemium application has pricing plans to accommodate everyone’s need. It offers limited numbers of features for free for an unlimited amount of time, but to experience the full-level feature stack, one needs to opt for paid plans. Slack comes with three different pricing plans of Standard, Plus and Enterprise Grid with features segregated according to each.

• The free plan comes with few basic features along with 5GB storage(total), 10k searchable messages, 10 app integrations, and two-factor authentication.

• The standard plan is at $6.67 per active user/per month

• Plus plan is at $12.50 per active user/per month

• The Enterprise Grid Plan offers 1TB of storage per member, along with the features which suit enterprise-level companies.

Our Verdict 

Yammer is cheaper when compared to Slack!

Integration Comparisons – Which tool supports more?

Yammer

Integrations help to get your work done easily and effortlessly! We know Yammer is a part of Office 365 suite and it also supports a good number of integrations.

• Integration with Share point enhances Yammer usage experience. Users can add their Yammer feeds to Share point pages.

• Yammer simply lets you integrate with other operations of Office 365 even while you are in conversation on Yammer. Users can open Outlook to set a meeting invite, can go with Skype video conferencing, work on excel sheet, upload files and many more...

• One of the integrations includes Yammer feed. It extends an embeddable JavaScript widget to display a snapshot of a specific feed to applications like Skype for Business, CRM, and CMS tools.

• You can integrate Microsoft Dynamics CRM with Yammer to add a social network layer for enhanced communication across business owners.

• Yammer can be integrated with other applications such as Microsoft Flow, Yammer Connect, Sales force.com, and Yammer APIs. Check out the app directory for all Yammer Apps.

Slack 

Slack says, “Add apps, get work done”. There is an endless number of apps that you can add to your workspace to pull reports, make calls, store data in the cloud within the Slack itself.

• Slack users can pick from a wide category of App integrations; such as apps for daily tools, Essential apps, New&Noteworthy apps, brilliant bots, app collections and from many more...

• Slack helps to integrate Google Drive, Microsoft One-Drive, DropBox, and Box applications for file management.

• Other integrations like Jira-Integration+ for Productivity, Azure Pipelines for Developer tools, Kudoboard for HR and Team Culture, Zoom for communication, etc., can be bought to the Slack.

Our Verdict

Comparatively, Slack supports a number of integrations to Yammer. The App Directory of Slack is quite immense.

 UI/UX Comparisons – which gives the best intuitive and immersive user experience!

Yammer

Yammer user interface is quite simple to use and easy to understand. The user is allowed to create an internal or external group or even can post or send a private message from the functionalities derived in the left pane. An easy to navigate user interface helps Yammers to get into to the use of the application faster.

Slack

Slack’s interface is promisingly impressive with colorful background hues. The user can invite people, create a channel or search for a group of channels from the left user-pane. Slack bots welcome the first-timers to facilitate the necessary support services, and they also help the user to check the Slack help center page from the UI itself only.

Our Verdict

Slack’s interface appears more appealing than Yammer.

Security Comparisons – Which one to trust more? 

Yammer

Yammer from Office365 comes with enterprise-level security, and compliance to provide secure online space for business enterprises, whereas the basic version doesn’t extend any admin security controls.

All conversations and feeds in transit and at rest are encrypted with AES-256 bit key encryption. Yammer data is totally secured under strict guidelines at Microsoft’s global network of data centers with round the clock video surveillance, biometric and pin-based locks, strict personnel access controls, and detailed visitor entry logs.

Slack 

All workspaces data is super-secured at Slack. It does provide safety to data through security bots. Slack is a certified ISO/IEC 27001, ISO/IEC 27017, ISO/IEC 27018 and HIPAA accredited team collaboration business chat application. Slacks GDPR policy is made available for the users at their website.

The other security features include; SAML-based SSO, SCIM provisioning, Granular app management, Custom Message Retention, Slack Enterprise Key Management (Slack EKM) and Support for Data Loss Prevention(DLP).

Our Verdict

Yammer and Slack are both up to the standards in providing data security and data prevention and loss.

Support Comparisons – who is available round the clock?

Yammer 

Yammer users need to describe their issue by navigating to the Contact Office Support page of Microsoft. Its help center educates Yammers with an in-detailed Feature-training material like attaching a file to a message, Enable or Disable email and Phone notifications, Keyboard shortcuts and more to go on...

Slack

Slacks help center leverages an extensive help-support for its users. Slack users can post their queries to Slack bots within the application itself. In the Slack help-center page, the users can find the Slack education column from which they can get to know about Slack Demo, Slack Foundry and Slack Tips.

Our Verdict

An interesting point to be noted here would be; Slack’s help-centre support is quite extensive and advanced when compared with Yammer.

 Analytic Report Comparisons – Which tool share the market share?

Yammer 

We know that many users of the world use Office 365 for their daily office work procedures. According to recent analytics, it is observed that the Fortune 500 companies across the globe collaborate via Yammer.

Slack 

Slack is one among those trusted business chat applications brand across the world used by diverse sizes of organizations. Slack’s analytic reports say that there is an immense change in the work culture after adopting Slack. At around 80.4% of respondents conveys, “the use of Slack has increased transparency in work collaborations which finally has yielded productive results”.

Our Verdict

Yammer is the social networking people collaboration application, there are chances that it might dominate Slack in this arena.

Search Comparisons – which is more powerful?

Yammer

The search functionality of Yammer seems to be simple and limited. Yammer users can enable search option on internal and external network groups and start conversations as per the choice they make.

Slack 

Slack’s search functionality provides search on channels, messages, and files to simply selection. Simplify your file search from the search facility of your files and all files.

Our Verdict

Yammer and Slack’s both make a good search result to a certain extent. When it comes to the case of Search comparisons, Troop Messenger has the most advanced search options to filter images, videos, contacts, location, text, files, and URLs.

Wrapping it up

Yammer and Slack both are good for team communication. Each has got its own set of pros and cons. Like if we take Yammer, it is popular across the world for its private social networking among internal teams and external networks. Slack has also gained its global share consistently. The latest entrant in the block, The Troop Messenger is no less competitor to any other business chat applications. Give a sure shot for it to attain reliable, secure and seamless team communication!

To sum it up, it is up to the reader’s discretion to choose the best-suited collaboration tool as per their teams need.

 Disclaimer

The aim of the article is to be informative. We intend users take an informed decision for an effective and productive experience. The comparison shown between Yammer vs slack in the blog is only towards that end and has no intention of pitting one against the other team collaboration app brands. The images, logos, any concepts etc., used in this blog, purely belong to their respective companies or applications (Yammer and Slack).

Readers are advised to consult and confirm from the respective service providers regarding details of features, latest updates, prices, and their policies before utilizing any of their services. This further informs the reader that the views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this blog solely belong to the author’s perception, and not necessarily to the author’s employer, organization, committee or other group or individual.

“Go paperless”, “Go digital” are the slogans of today’s digital world.

The archaic method of managing and monitoring attendance with huge stacks of registers for hundreds of employees and generating reports of each employee attendance will be a nightmare. Courtesy to technological advancement, many software solutions are in front of us to ease the tasks now.

Eliminate the manual methods of attendance management with “paper and ink” and revamp this system to a biometric attendance system with “scanner and biometrics”.

Biometrics-iris, face, and fingerprints have become the digital signatures to the attendance of all employees all over the world in the full spectrum of industries irrespective of brands.

These systems also can be used in 

• schools,

• colleges,

• educational institutes,

• visitor management,

• citizen identification etcetera.

Many designers and developers have already adopted this system and provided various feature set software applications based on biometrics.

Have a look at these top 10 biometric attendance systems and read on to know their features as well. Here we go!

Time dynamo

 Developer: Tvisha Technologies Inc.

Specifications:  Requires iOS 10.3 or later, compatible with iPhone, iPod, iPod touch, iOS, and Android devices. TPOS7 Product 7' TFT LCD, Network 3G Data/ Dual SIM, 7' IPS capacitive touch screen, resolution of 1024*600, Quad-core Processor, the memory of RAM DDR3 2 GB, Built-in Storage 16 GB, Support max.

• 32G with micro SD card,

• Rear 5 MP & Front 2 MP camera,

• Bluetooth/Wi-Fi connectivity,

• Integrated STQC certified Fingerprint scanner.

Description: The compact professional real-time attendance management and leave management system empowers businesses with accurate tracking and monitoring employee's attendance with biometric automated solutions. It scans each employee through either iris recognition pattern, faces recognition method or fingerprints. With the advent of the uniqueness of these biometric patterns, it has become easy in eliminating proxy attendance.

Features:  Real-time Attendance tracking, GPS tracking, Absence management, Payroll generation, Scheduling Management, Notifications, and Reports.

Accolades: Time Dynamo has been shortlisted by NASSCOM under the top 10 innovative product showcases in the 5th edition of NPC.

mDESK7

 Developer: Mantra Softech India Private Limited

Specifications:

• 1.2 GHz Quad-Core processor,

• 7 inches or higher; 1024×600 resolution-display,

• 8 GB of internal memory and 2GB of RAM,

• Wi-Fi or Bluetooth connectivity,

• Single SIM with 4G support,

• Audio-Microphone,

• Rear Camera,

• LED flash.

Description: This device is used for registration and authentication of an employee through a fingerprint impression. This Wi-Fi enabled device is available at an affordable price. You can use it for Guest Management, Canteen Management, Citizen Identification for government schemes. The data can be stored within the device.

Features: A separate port for pen drive connection, FBI PIV fingerprint sensor, 1:1 & 1: N matching, GPS.

A-ID Biometric

 Developer: A-ID systems India

Specifications:  

• Dual CPU (32bit RISC + 400MHz DSP),

• memory of 1GB flash and 34MB RAM,

• fingerprint capacity of 200000 users(400000 templates),

• log capacity of 1,000,000 events, and

• biometric identification speed of 3,000 match in 1 second (max 20,000 templates).

Description: It is well-known for the Indian smart card industry.

Features: Records real-time entries and updates periodically and stores all the data in the form of cloud storage.

eSSL Biometric attendance system (E9C WIFI)

 Developer: ESSL security

Specifications:  

• 10000 users,

• 1,00,000 logs of transaction storage,

• 500DPI optical sensor,

• card storage of 10000.

Description: It is the best and reliable centralized time and biometric attendance management system. The firmware (Push data technology) is easy to install and use. Used at canteen management, school attendance, gyms and clubs, and production management.

Features: Attendance management and Payroll generation.

ACTAtek Biometric

 Developer: ACTAtek

Specifications: 

• 500 DPI optical scanner,

• 20000 users and 75000 log events can be allowed.

Description: Allows remote user registration and authentication. Used for security and workforce management applications. These biometric attendance systems allow 5 modes of authentications such as fingerprint, smart card, ID, barcode, and PIN. It has a multi-lingual interface. Scanning speed is less than a second.

Features: Attendance management, Payroll generation, leave and clock management.

4Gid

 Developer: 4G Identity Pvt. Ltd. 

Specifications:

• FBI scanners,

• captures wet and dry fingers,

• fingerprint live slap scanner.

Description: 4Gid is the largest biometric identification database. It is a fingerprint and iris authentication system and used for a wide range of applications such as monetary transaction securities, ATMs, e-passports, e-visas, etc.

Features : Time and attendance management, Blacklist management.

Formula One Biometric Attendance System

 Developer: Formula One solutions Pvt. Ltd.

Specifications: 

• The capacity of 1500 users,

• Wi-Fi connectivity,

• able to record 50000 transactions,

• matching 1:1,1: N up to 2200 fingerprints.

Description: It can be used in small, medium, retail applications. Employees can be identified with fingerprint, RFID, or Password.

Features: Automated time and attendance management.

Bioscan 

 Developer: Sansci group

Specifications: Secugen Hamster Pro 20 scanner device.

Description: This biometric attendance software can be adopted at schools, corporate companies, and field jobs.

Features: Fast and reliable live tracking of attendance, accessible on both online and offline, daily report generation.

Timecheck

 Developer: Timecheck

Specifications: It uses various scanners such as Anviz FacePass Pro face recognition devices.

Description: It is the web and mobile-enabled time and attendance management system. It is implemented in diverse work culture. It can be integrated with any biometric systems

Features: Accurate time and attendance tracking of various shifts and administrative management, Mobile application, Comp off management, Payroll generation, and Reports.

Bio star 09

Developer: Star link

Specifications: 

• larger graphics LCD,

• the storage capacity of 9,560 finger templates,

• 5 lacs recording capacity and TCP/IP & USB port connectivity for data transfer.

Description: Anyone can access it through a fingerprint, card or PIN. It can be applied in any industry. The features can be customizable.

Features: Attendance record and management.

Conclusion:

These are the top 10 biometric attendance systems you can adopt in your organization, company, or industry according to your business requirements.

The game between Slack and Discord is endless.

In this article, we're gonna be Comparing Slack vs Discord battle to know which is better for business

First things first, Slack is a commercial choice for businesses where teams communicate and collaborated that is designed based on cloud technology.

while Discord is for the gaming community. It's a freeware(software that is available free of charge) Voice over Internet Protocol(VoIP) that is developed for the communication between the communities and the gaming teams.

Many questions might be doing the rounds in your mind to know who made Discord?, how much data does Discord use? How is Discord free? How to customize Discord? And finally when did Discord come out? Worry not, you have all the questions answered in this article.

Let's get started

Slack vs  Discord: Onboarding 

Slack

Slack says,“ it is more productive, more transparent, more efficient, with no more emails”. Let me take you with the product tour of Slack. The sign-up process begins with joining an existing workspace or by joining a new workspace altogether. An invite is needed from the Admin of the Slack application for a new user to join the existing workspace.

What is Slack Workspace

A new user can create a new workspace from scratch by confirming the registered email, and by confirming the 6-digit verification code. The new user is asked to enter the new workspace and project name and is also allowed to add other team members to the project. A separate channel for every project is created to bring in teams, conversations, files, etc., for seamless collaboration. Slack provides a URL for every workspace created. The user is supposed to use the allotted URL to login to Slack. In the end, give your name and password to finish the sign-up process of your workspace.

The slacks user interface is simple to understand and quite interesting. Each workspace consists of channels, and all the conversations within the workspace happen through channels only. It allows sending direct messages to Slack bots to know more about the application. The feature-stack of the basic free plan includes adding channels, inviting people, Mentions, 10k searchable messages, one-to-one video calls, two-factor authentication and access to basic Slack features.

Discord

Discord is quite popular among the gaming community. It is a free application that provides voice and text chat conversations. The sign-up process for Discord is pretty simple and easy. Fill up the sign-up form by giving your email id, username, password, and accept the terms and conditions to proceed further. The verification process can be made across through email or a mobile device. Now the new user has access to free voice and text chat amongst the team members. As far as the discord’s data usage is concerned, its levels seem too high on PC rather than Mobile.

When was discord made?

The initial release of Discord was made in the year 2015, but its stable release is noticed to be released five months ago i.e., on 1st April 2019. 

What is a Discord Server 

Most of Discord's text and voice conversations happen within servers. Servers act as individual hubs split into two parts: text channels and voice channels. Think of any server you join as a giant treehouse- each text channel within a server represents another room within your treehouse that you can chat with your friends!

The new user is asked to create a server by selecting the server region. A user can join any of the popular public servers as per their requirement. The user interface of Discord allows the user to create more servers, send direct messages, add friends, send friend requests, etc., A two-factor authentication is enabled to protect your server with an extra layer of security. As far as the Discord Server limit is concerned, it does not accept a single user to be on more than 100 servers. In one instance it allows 75+ users, as its servers don’t have any member limit.

In this article, we look at the Quick Comparison between Slack and Discord for different scenarios.

• Both the chat applications Slack and Discord are cross-platform enabled. They are available for Windows, macOS, Web, Android, iOS. Discord has its presence for Linux too.

• Slack comes with three pricing plans; Free plan, Standard Plan, and Plus Plan. Discord pricing plan includes; Free, Nitro Plan and Nitro Classic.

• Discord message history is unlimited across its all plans, whereas Slack provides unlimited message history in Standard and Plus plans only.

• Both the applications are deployed in cloud and mobile.

• Discord and Slack both have come up with advanced search filters

• Slack doesn’t offer the feature of screen sharing in the free version, whereas real-time screen sharing is present for free and paid versions of Discord.

• Discord allows unlimited integrations. Slack limits to 10 integrations in the free plan and about 800 integrations in paid plans.

• Both applications provide exceptional help and support services

• The Discord’s group video calling allows adding friends who are all there in the contacts list.

Slack vs  Discord: Simple-to-Use
 

Discord is highly popular for its slick design and hassle-free sign-up process. The user doesn’t even have to provide the email id to use Discord chat application; rather he/she can start using the application just by giving their name. But, yes the verification process needs an email address for quick access to all the servers.

The interface of Discord is so simple, customizable and seamless, that any casual user can quickly understand the features, simply at a glance. In addition to this, Discord’s text and voice conversations take place in their servers, and setting up them is absolutely simple. The terms Discord file size limit and Discord max file size limit might sound different, but their actual file size limits are the same as the upload limits.

Joining Slack’s workspace is a little tedious when compared to Discord. The two ways to join Slack is through accepting an email invitation or through creating an account. Then you are asked to set up your profile with your First name, Display name, phone number etc., to let other team members know about you. Users need to download desktop and mobile apps, whereas, in the case of Discord, they can log in to the web client to access the application.

 Similar Post:

• Ryver vs Slack

• Microsoft Teams Vs Slack

• Yammer Or Slack

Slack vs Discord: Cross-Platform

Discord Company, the most popular and the biggest gaming cross-platform application, is available on all desktop and mobile OS platforms. It works on Windows, Mac OS, Android, and iOS and it is Linux friendly too. And if you don’t feel like installing it, just experience the web application. One of the discord alternatives, the Troop Messenger also has its presence on all the platforms.

Slack’s being widely used as team collaboration application, had made its footprint on Windows, Chrome, Mac OS, Linux(beta), Android, iOS, Windows Phone(beta). Though the desktop application is quite heavier than Discord, it’s the most powerful one.

Slack vs Discord: Features

Discord

Discord’s popularity is fast catching up in recent years. The client numbers are getting multiplied with its ever-increasing upcoming features –list. This application is rather famous in the gaming community than in team collaboration. Discord is specially designed for managing large groups and servers. It allows the user to quickly join the web client, without having to install a desktop app or creating an account. This tool offers voice and video calls in a single interface and offers an unlimited message history too. When it comes to the Discord upload limit and Discord Character limit, they are 8mb and 2000 respectively. The upload limit can be extended to 50 MB by switching to the paid plan of Nitro.

The application is well-known in respecting user’s privacy; neither does it message logging in free version nor in paid. Discord notifies users about other gaming information, to simplify choosing options for players. The server management and server-switching are so hassle-free in Discord that it enables the users to check their friend's list on a daily basis, and switching between servers is just a click away. When it comes to Discord loading messages file size limits, it is similarly quantified with the file upload limits. 

A few of the upcoming features include; keyboard navigation, overlay home bar for desktop, spoiler tags for iOS, game detection, and spoiler tags for Android.

Slack

Slack is popularly known as a “Place for every Conversation”, as it is considered a unified choice for business communications and project management. It allows the user to create a separate channel for every discussion, be it for the team, for a new project, or a channel for onboarding, or for training new employees, etc. The chat interface of Slack is quite simple to understand and pretty much easy to use. The user can find all the available channels open to the left side of the chat interface.

One of the additional features of Slack is its screen sharing ability during video calls. It makes the best presentation tool with the help of voice, video, and text communication. The exceptional search functionality of Slack makes the user bring all files, messages, attachments at one place.

The CPU usage is high at Slack and is more intensive when compared to Discord. It uses 9.5 MB for its processing for the same count of message requests, which were attended by Discord. Every day’s essential business applications of all size and shape like Asana, Dropbox, Salesforce, Trello, Jira, etc., are easily integrated into Slack.

Slack vs Discord: End Users 

The gaming community prefers to land on Discord rather than Slack, for its lag-free and high-speed gaming experience. Though mainly meant for gamers, the concept of collaboration is born out of necessity to unite them in one place. Going further when we talk about, discord notification meme, it allows the users to compile them as the way they want.

Though Slack was developed by a gaming company, it’s been essentially built for team speak. Its primary focus is to attend business or corporate audience for their uninterrupted team collaboration. The features designed are highly business-oriented with intuitive and impressive UI.

Slack vs Discord: Pricing 

Discord comes in three pricing plans 

• Free - $0

• Discord Nitro Classic - $4.99/month

• Discord Nitro - $9.99/month

Discord offers most of its features free of cost, and a Nitro Plan for the upgrade of extended file upload, animated emojis and for high-quality screen sharing. Since the upgrade is applicable to each individual account instead of the server, the users who need it should upgrade accordingly. Along with this, a Nitro plan of Discord enhances the users chat experience with interesting perks such as animated fun, global search emoji's, custom Discord tag, high-quality video, etc.,

Slack comes in three pricing plans and an enterprise Grid:

• Free - $0

• Standard - $6.67/month

• Plus - $12.50/month

• Enterprise Grid

It doesn’t offer many of the important features in its free version. Small teams or small organizations can create a team collaboration workspace for an unlimited period of time with their+ free plan. For uninterrupted project communications, teams can opt for Slack's standard plan. The two-factor authentication facility is available for all the users, regardless of the plan.

Slack vs Discord: Voice and Video Calls

Discord Voice calls and Voice chat are the heart of Discord. Discord video channels have kept separate from messaging channels and have gained huge popularity with free VoIP calling service between gaming servers, since its inception. When compared to its other competitors like Slack and Skype, It provides the highest quality audio and video calling for the users. Unlike Slack, Discord doesn’t differentiate its voice and video calling services with its plan’s purchase. Discord video calling and screen sharing can be used simultaneously to have an enhanced user gaming experience.

Let us have a quick look at how to video call on Discord?

-Select “Voice & Video” from App Settings and Select video settings from the camera options drop-down menu and follow instructions as guided by Discord.

Though video calling is available in Slack’s Free Plan, it’s been restricted only for two people. The users need to upgrade to higher paid plans to expand the video call participant’s limit to 15 users. In any of the Slack's plan, its users can call other members of the application through channels. Slack gave a value-addition to its video calling, where the participants can respond with a different kind of emojis to show their expression! 

Slack vs Discord: Integrated File Sharing

Slack and Discord both the tools, allows the users to share a wide range of files across their respective applications.

In Discord’s free plan, the user can share files to the limit of 8MB and can extend this limit up to 50 MB.

In Slack, users can upload the files up to 1 GB. The users can directly drag and drop all range of files such as PDFs, images and videos into the slack.

Slack vs Discord: Support Service

Discord extends excellent round the clock support services to its users. Apart from its 24/7 help center, its support team is actively available on most of the social channels like Twitter, Reddit, etc., Its exclusive help center page provides you all the information right from the account settings to permissions. Get to know about its announcements, trust and safety, community programs and many more from the help center page of their website.

Slack too provides high-end and well-coordinated customer support for its users. They ensure the best possible resolutions for any sort of customer feedback and toughest queries. Support team who are up to date on the latest feature details will attend the users by assuring them with seamless application usage. The support page of Slack lets you tap into the collective knowledge base of the application.

Conclusion

Eventually, the size of your organization and the cost of the application matters the most while choosing the right one! Discord and Slack both are exceptional in their respective genres. I personally suggest the user opt for Discord, as its free plan itself is offering all the essential parameters of the application.

But ultimately, it’s the user’s choice of which to choose picked!

Still not justified! Then I would strongly suggest you hands-on the new-age chat messenger solution,  The Troop Messenger.

Disclaimer

The aim of the article is to be informative. We intend users take an informed decision for an effective and productive experience. The comparison shown between discord vs slack in the blog is only towards that end and has no intention of pitting one against the other team collaboration app brands. The images, logos, any concepts etc., used in this blog, purely belong to their respective companies or applications (Discord and Slack).

Readers are advised to consult and confirm from the respective service providers regarding details of features, latest updates, prices, and their policies before utilizing any of their services.
This further informs the reader that the views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this blog solely belong to the author’s perception, and not necessarily to the author’s employer, organization, committee or other group or individual.

When was the last time you forgot to do an important task?

And, when was the last time you decided to create online to-do lists,

but never kept up to it-because obviously, who has the time to pull out a pen and paper to note everything down?

Well, you are not alone. It’s a human tendency to forget things, and later regret not being efficient at task management. Having a to-do-list app is not only about organizing the daily tasks but also keeping track of the progress, and completing them to meet goals.

Do we even need to explain why everyone should have to-do-list applications on their smartphones? There are over hundreds of to-do-list applications with a great many features and specifications. These applications have been around for a long time.

But, here’s something: Not all the applications fit the user requirement. Keeping track of tasks and daily work is an intensely personal thing, and users will switch off from any application that doesn’t meet their needs.

Let’s face it. Finding the right to-do-list application can be an overwhelming (and equally disappointing) task. That’s why we conducted exhaustive research on the top-rated applications reviewed each of them on the basis of their features, ease of use, pricing, and supported platform.

We have written this article after spending a lot of time during feature analysis and unbiased comparison. And finally, we present to you what we believe is the best to-do list apps for iPhone, Android, Windows, and macOS.

Microsoft To-Do ( The Office user’s To-Do list app)

 Supported Platforms: Android, Windows, and iOS

 Pricing: Free

From office task management to daily life events, Microsoft To-Do can be your go-to application for recording everything you need to get done, every single day.

To-Do by Microsoft empowers the users to accomplish more by adding a new task, tracking the on-going work, removing the to-do once it is completed.

With access to your daily list, you can review tasks due, set reminders to complete them on time, streamline your activities, and eliminate all confusion.

Highlights:

• Microsoft To-Do has a very clean and user-friendly interface. The app assures great flexibility with the standard UI and UX.

• The deep integration with Microsoft tools is a standout feature. If you are using Outlook and wish to sync your task to your mobile phone, the Microsoft To-Do makes it possible with one-click.

• Adding to-dos has never been easier. For this application, Windows and iPhone users can also use voice command service.

• For example, if you are using Windows, you can ask Cortana to add a new task to your specific to-do list.

• It is cloud-based and so it can be integrated with Office 365.

What’s Missing:

• The tools lack task management and collaboration feature.

• MacOS version is still unavailable and hence Microsoft To-Do needs to work on the collaboration front.

Best Suited For:

• Both Personal and Professional needs. If you want a personal space to create and track your tasks, Microsoft To-do is the best. It’s not for those who want to work collaboratively with colleagues on the same project.

Wunderlist (The daily planner To-Do list app)

 Supported Platforms: iPhone, iPad, Mac, Android, Windows, Kindle Fire and the Web

  Pricing: Free

With Wunderlist, you get the flexibility to get stuff done with ease.

Whether you have plans to meet a friend, deliver a project, contact a client, or plan a business party, Wunderlist is the perfect solution for ticking off all your professional and personal to-dos.

Highlights:

• The app makes it super easy to create, organize, and share the to-do on the go. You can also group the related list in one folder.

• It allows the users to assign to-dos and tasks irrespective of geographical locations, set reminders, and accomplish tasks within the due date.

• The tool allows users to work collaboratively. With Wunderlist, teamwork can be very flexible since you can share tasks and work together. It’s also a perfect app where you can host all communications together.

• With Wunderlist, you can print the to-do with one click.

 What’s Missing:

• The application is not suitable for advanced task management. 

• It doesn’t support a native calendar view and built-in time tracking feature, which can be a hindrance for task management.

Best Suited For:

• Basic level task management. As long as you need standard task management features in a to-do list app, Wunderlist comes in really handy.

• For advanced task management, this online to-do list tool is not the best choice.

Todoist (The To-do task manager list app)

  Supported Platforms: iPhone, iPad, Mac, Android, Windows, and the Web

  Pricing: Free Version Available

Millions of people are using this application to streamline daily tasks and activities.

The tool lets the user keep track of all their tasks, and in that way, helps them enjoy peace of mind. With Todoist, you can efficiently add the tasks, set reminders, never worry about forgetting urgent things.

It works anywhere, anytime, and across all devices.

Highlights:

• It keeps all the tasks in one place and gives users confidence that all the activities and to-dos are well organized.

• Where ‘Quick add’ allows users to capture and manage tasks, the ‘Reminder feature’ helps them build habits and remember approaching deadlines.

• The prioritization feature facilitates prioritizing tasks, highlighting what’s more important, and mapping out project goals

• The application can be integrated with dozens of third-party applications like Dropbox, Zapier, IFTTT, AmazonAlexa, GoogleCalendar, and others.

What’s Missing:

• Built-in time management and tracking feature are missing.

•  Todoist lacks a dedicated module for meeting management.

Best Suited For:

• Todoist is best for those people who want to meet productivity goals. 

• The Todoist Karma points, streaks, and levels are some of the features they can use to see tangible progress of your project.

• This feature lets you measure the progress through beautiful visualization and graphs.

TickTick  (The Productive To-Do list app)

 Supported Platforms: iPhone, iPad, Mac, Android, Windows, and the Web

  Pricing: Free Version Available

  Paid Plan Starts at : $2.4/month

As the name implies, this tool lets the user make checklists (to-do lists), organize them in the order of priority, and then tick them off after completing the tasks.

Millions of people use this to-do list template to capture, organize, and prioritize tasks and make the most of their working days.

Highlights:

• The in-built calendar facilitates reminder setting so you never miss an important meeting, a client’s project delivery, or an important phone call.

• The flexible calendar view helps a user check their schedule and manage it according to their convenience.

• Those who want to work collaboratively, can assign tasks, share the to-do list, check project progress, and stay productive together

• TickTick can be synced across multiple platforms. The tool supports voice input, Siri commands, and it can also convert emails into tasks.

• TickTick also has Pomo Timer, which is based on the Pomodoro Technique that helps the user to stay focused and play white noise in the background.

What’sMissing:

• TickTick doesn’t support integration with other project management apps, which hinders workflow.

Best Suited For:

• It’s perfect for everyone who wants to increase their daily productivity. The PomoTimer is a great feature that can be used to enhance focus and eliminate distraction.

• With TickTick, Organization is simple. You can organize tasks into lists, tasks, subtasks, and folders.

• Furthermore, all these can be sorted in accordance with priority, tags, and custom lists.

Things (The award-winning To-Do list app)

 Supported Platforms: iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch

 Pricing: 15-Day Free Trial Available

 MacOS: $49.99

 iPad: $19.99

  iPhone & Apple Watch: $9.99

Things is an award-winning, and critically acclaimed personal task manager, specially designed for iPhone and Mac users.

It's got powerful features, all-new design, and a great many interactions. It has no shortage of functionalities, and yet all features are provided in a manner they never feel cluttered. Things are the best to-do list apps for the iPhone.

Highlights:

• Easy drag and drop UI that allows users to rearrange the task in order of priority.

• Headings feature for creating categories within the task and forming structure to streamline the workflow.

• Calendar view with start and end date of the task.

• Push notifications for reminders, advanced search filters, and focus mode for essential tasks.

• Visual aids like a pie chart that allows project tracking and progress monitoring over time.

What’s Missing:

• The tools lack collaboration feature. The lists cannot be shared with others and so, co-working through Things is not feasible. It's more of a personal task manager.

• The app is available only for Apple device users.

Best Suited For:

• Apple Device users who want to sync their to-dos across all the devices, and review, edit, and organize the personal tasks. Things are mainly recommended for personal use.

Keep & Share (The easiest To-Do list app)

 Supported Platforms: iPhone, Android, and Windows.

 Pricing: Free Plan for individual use is available with 500 calendar entries

 Paid Plan: For personal use is available at $9 per month with 3000 calendar entries

 Multi-User plan: starts at :$19 per month with 3000 calendar entries

Have you ever wanted to have a personalized calendar that marks all your important dates, meetings, schedules, and upcoming tasks? In short, your virtual time management assistant.

Keep & Share is one such application that offers a secure and customizable calendar which you can review, edit, and access anytime, anywhere.

These calendars are shareable, which makes office collaboration very simple and secure.

Highlights:

• As soon as an admin makes any changes in the schedules, all team members get instant notifications by text message and emails.

• Keep & Share can be used to assign tasks, jobs, and schedule appointments with team members and also in their personal calendars.

• All the individual calendars can be grouped later to create a master calendar.

• The tool tagging and variant coloring options, which makes the organization very simple. Using the tags, you can filter the calendar to find just what you need.

• You can divide events between different team members, add extra details in grids, and compare schedules through the side-by-side view.

What’s Missing?

•  The tool lacks a dedicated subtask management feature and the time-tracking option. 

• One can share the calendar with team members, but cannot integrate it with other task management applications.

Best Suited For:

• Office and Team Work. If you want to manage a big project by keeping all the team members on the same page, Keep & Share is a perfect choice.

• The tool will keep all the employees on track of what's happening and what has been changed in the plan.

Any Do (The Freemium To-Do list app)

  Supported Platforms: Android and Windows.

 Pricing:  Free Plan with basic features is Available

 Paid plan with advanced features starts at : $2.99 per month

Your busy life needs an application that can streamline all your tasks and help you become a more organized and productive person. Any-Do is one such application with extensive task management features. It is used by millions of people to get more things done.

Highlights:

• The tool’s basic functionality is organization. You can organize your lists, tasks, and events, and set reminders for each.

• The application seamlessly syncs with all types of devices and operating systems, which makes your to-dos accessible anytime, anywhere.

• With beautiful calendars and the turbo-charged features, the users can keep track of all their projects, save time, and make every day productive.

• The app has a one time, recurring, custom, and location-based reminder settings, which assures that you never miss out on what’s important.

What’s Missing: 

• Any Do doesn't support advanced task management for the free plan. For example, you cannot share the list or integrate it with third-party tools in the free version.

• The premium plan, however, offers both communication and collaboration features.

Best Suited For:

• Both personal and professional needs, especially users who want to complete tasks based on their geographical locations. The location-based notification features are a great way of getting things done just where you want.

Toodle Do (The multi-functional To-Do list app)

  Supported Platforms: Android, iOS, Web browsers, and Windows.

  Pricing: Free Plan with basic features is Available

 Paid plan with advanced features starts at : $2.99 per month

With Toodle Do, Task management is easy, efficient, and productive. If you want a To-Do application with great many task management features, Toodle Do has to be the final pick.

It has got everything you need to streamline workflow, organize tasks, and boost productivity.

Highlights:

• It is a powerful application with features like Due Dates, Reminders, Schedule, and Folders management.

• You can quickly sort all the lists with the easy search, filter option, and tags.

• The Status features allow users to keep track of the tasks, and the Batch Edit can be used to make changes to the group.

• Prioritize the tasks and to-dos by adding stars, setting goals, and adding priority levels.

• The tool has a wide variety of options like exporting, importing, and data backup.

What’s Missing:

• The tool lacks a dedicated customer care support or issues management module.

• Both the collaboration and advanced task management features are missing in the free plan.

Best Suited For:

• Office teams on tight-schedules and deadlines. The collaboration features, tasks addition via email, full history, and priority support are some of the features that can make task management efficient for professionals.

OmniFocus (The feature-stack To-Do list app)

  Supported Platforms: iPhone and Mac Computers

 Pricing: 14-Day Free Trial Available

 OmniFocus : 3 license is available at $49.99 

This is a To-do list application with the most refreshing design. OmniFocus is built with a fresh design and interactive UI, which makes it an appealing platform to work on. With all the powerful features like Quick entry, forecast, view options, perspectives, syncing, and light and dark mode, you can take complete control of the daily tasks.

Highlights:

• You can add actions through Siri Voice Command, and the reminder setting to make sure you never forget anything important.

• The actions can be grouped into tasks, and then into projects. This way, you and your team can work collaboratively. For better search results, add tags, set priority, importance level, and location.

• There is a perspective feature that can be used for OmniFocus users to plan their day and do things on their lists. Online syncing assures that all your data are always up-to-date on all your devices.

• Mac users can opt for a pro plan where they use features like custom sidebar, focus mode, custom perspective, and apple script.

What’s Missing?

• The application is not available for Android and Windows users.

• For beginners, OmniFocus can be too complicated. Many options can be overwhelming to understand at first.

Best Suited For:

• iPhone mobile and Mac computer users who want to follow to-dos and streamline workflow in both personal and professional aspects of their lives.

• It's an excellent tool for users who follow the GTD approach as it has a dedicated functionality to help get everything done faster.

Notion (The All-in-one To-Do list app)

 Supported Platforms: Web, Mobile, Mac, Windows

 Pricing: Free Version is Available

  Personal plan is available at : $4 per month

 Team plan is available at  : $8 per month

  Enterprise plan is available at : $8 per month

This new to-do list tool is designed for writing, collaborating, planning, and organizing purposes. With Notion, you get to do a lot more than setting up tasks and reminders. It's a one-in-all tool with a great many features.

Highlights:

• The application supports over 30 media types, and lets you have a simple and comfortable writing experience.

• It works like GiHubWiki by turning a user’s tribal information into the easy-to-look answers.

• You can add tasks, assign teams, and roles. You can create checklists and roadmaps to accomplish the assigned roles through Kanban board, list view, and Calendar.

• This tool lets you keep a record of all the critical information through spreadsheets and databases.

• It works offline too and syncs with your devices in real-time.

What’s Missing?

• It lacks communication features and real-time discussion with the team members

• The time tracking feature is not available.

Best Suited For:

• Notion is the perfect solution for ticking off all your professional to-dos and managing tasks at an advanced level.

• The project management is more accessible with Notion, but you'll have to use a separate application for communicating with the team members.

Conclusion:

Finding the best task management software system can be overwhelming. More the options, the more confusing it gets. Hence, we have done your homework and presented you with the top-rated tools to pick from.

If you are an android user, TickTick and Todoist can be a great pick. Windows users can easily rely on Microsoft To-Do, and Apple users can go with Things and OmniFocus. And if you want a tool that works across all platforms, Wuderlist, Toodle Do, and Keep & Share can be the safest (and the smartest) pick.

This marks the end of the best to-do list app available. What do you think will work best for your task management needs? Let us know in the comments below. 

Originally Published at Troop Messenger 

The standard text messaging is now passé, especially with the explosion of messaging applications that give businesses a new way to connect with employees, team members, and all stakeholders.

For businesses, cloud-based instant messaging platforms are crucial for communication and project collaboration, especially when the employer is working with remote employees, freelancers, or on projects that require round-the-clock attention.

That's why the majority of companies are using instant messaging platforms.

Trending Article

What is Instant Messaging Programs?

Put simply; instant messaging programs allow the users to exchange messages in real-time. Both small and large-scale businesses today are using IM to share information, collaborate with team members, and forge a virtual decision-making platform.

The primary purpose of using instant messaging for business is to ensure a customized workplace collaboration with secure and rapid communication between all stakeholders.

Knowing how Instant Messaging apps is the need of the hour, we evaluated the features of Fourteen favorite instant messaging tools and reviewed them based on the functionality. Through this article, we'll share with you the business messenger applications your team can choose for external and internal communication.

Follow this article for an in-depth analysis of each of these applications.

Having powered up the external messaging requirements, your next initiative towards streamlining business communication should be to strengthen the communication and collaboration within the company.

 This can be easily achieved through the internal instant messaging Programs as described below:  

Troop Messenger  (Best Instant Messenger for Business)

 Free - Group Chats - limitation (5)

 Paid - Unlimited ($1/user/month) 

Of course, we’re biased, but hey — it is our blog. Here’s our #1  Instant messaging Software. If you are looking for an all-in-one business messaging app, Troop Messenger can be the perfect tool for your business requirements. Packed with contemporary features, this user-friendly office messaging application has interactive features like:

• Unlimited Groups, Unlimited message history, and message retrieval are some the best features.

• The tool allows screen sharing and face-to-face interaction over presentations and projects, To-Dos, and deadlines.

• Admin can have complete control over users' accessible features. The dashboard feature allows for easy supervision.

Rocketbots ( A conversational messaging tool )

 Free - Unlimited messages

 Paid - Unlimited ($19 /user/month) 

Rocketbot is an all-in-one messenger for business. It is a useful tool that lets you manage all the chats in one CRM with AI-powered messaging, broadcasts, and surveys. If you're looking for a WhatsApp Business Solution, Rocketbots is a great choice.

• Rocketbot is a perfect medium for organising all the messaging apps in one place.

• It functions with AI that supports over 15 languages and suggests AI smart replies during a conversation.

• Target broadcast features and chat automation let users craft and deliver messages to the right people within the right time. 

• One can deploy Rocketbot on WeChat, Slack, Facebook Messenger, Kik, and other similar platforms.

• The tool combines the personality of humans and the speed of computers to create a powerful messaging platform that facilitates communication in the most efficient way.

Skype ( Mature Instant chat messenger)

 Skype is FREE for use by up to 25 people.

 Starting from: $2.00/month

There’s a solid reason why hundreds of millions of employers use Skype to collaborate with their clients and employees. Skype is the ultimate solution for smooth communication.

Audio and Video HD calling, smart messaging, Screen sharing, call recording, private conversations, Live subtitles, and phone calls- you can do it all with Skype.

• Skype allows editing of sent messages or deletion of messaging all-together.

• It is compatible with Phone, Tablet, Desktop, Web, Xbox, and Alexa too.

• Some of the exclusive features of Skype include Skype call forwarding, Chat history back-up, location sharing, background blurring, Voicemail, and Skype call recording.

• Skype also allows users to search specific texts within a conversation. This can be done by selecting a find button under the chat header or pressing Command + F on Mac, and Ctrl + F on Windows.

• Skype for Business is a great way of hosting professional online meetings. With Office 365 in-built integration, the host can access and share all office apps including Word, PowerPoint, Excel, OneNote, and Outlook.

• Skype for Business has powerful features like Whiteboard, PowerPoint upload, Built-in IM, Screen Sharing, URL invites, and an unlimited number of meetings.

• The Office 365 Business plan starts at $8.25 per user per month.

Slack ( Enterprise instant messaging App)

  File Storage - 5GB per workspace

 Message Visibility - 10K most recent messages

Slack is the ultimate tool for business communication and collaboration. Businesses all over the world rely on this tool to streamline work irrespective of the geographical locations of the team members. Use slack for business because:

• Apart from direct messaging and threading features, Slack has an integration directory of over 1500 applications.

• Slack supports two-factor authentication for additional security and data encryption features too.

• Slack allows collaboration beyond colleagues by enabling users to share channels with clients, partners, and vendors.

• With Slack, users can customize communication-based on topic, team members, projects, and other factors.

• Slack is one of the highly secured communication tools, for it uses robust measures like SSO and 2FA to encrypt the data and protect it against cyber threats.

Brosix ( A thrive work instant messenger)

 Pro Plan – $ 2.10 per user/m

 Ultimate – $ 2.99 per user/m

With Brosix as an instant messenger, you get to do a lot more than texting and multimedia sharing. Using Brosix as a business messaging application, your company can gain complete control of a business network and have an encrypted communication channel.

• Brosix has a complete range of collaboration features that facilitate business communication: offline messages, video and voice chat, whiteboard, file transfer, screen sharing, malware and virus protection, real-time monitoring.

• Communication channels are fully-encrypted for additional security. Brosix uses the P2P file transfer to keep user’s data safe from being breached.

• With unlimited file sharing, you are sure to witness efficient collaboration, productivity benefits, and easy project management.

• Employers or team managers can have full control over users' accessible features, privileges, and contact list.

• It is a perfect instant messaging tool for those who want a strong, secure, simple, cost-effective, and reliable business communication solution.

Google+ Hangouts (the free instant messaging for business)

 Free 14 Day Trial

 Basic - Professional office suite with 30GB storage

Given the reputation of Google Applications, you can safely rely on Hangouts for all your internal communication. Not only does this tool offers a user-friendly chat service, but it is also packed with some of the amazing features listed below:

• Hangouts as an office messenger allow deep integration with G-suite application, which is a perfect way of supporting your business needs.

• It is compatible with Android, Windows, Apple devices, and computers: which makes it the perfect tool for handling communication needs of corporate environments.

• Hangouts’ integration with Gmail supports threaded messages and create bots with the app itself. It has no trouble integrating with major business applications and systems.

• Hangout supports group conferencing for up to fifteen people, screen sharing options, and phone call.

• For companies that require video broadcasting, Hangout on Air Feature is a great feature. It is an efficient way for businesses to conduct talk shows, live seminars, and stream video calls live through YouTube.

Flock ( corporate instant messenger)

 Free Plan - Search up to 10K messages

 Paid - Unlimited ($2.13 /user/month) 

Flock is recommended for the companies that wish to make teamwork conversations effortless. With a significant number of collaborative features, Flock can be an integral part of your business network. The users get to stay on top of their project, create and share notes within the chat box. Other features include:

• Integration with third-party apps your team needs. For example- GitHub, Google Drive, Jira, Trello, Google Calendar, Twitter, and many more.

• Create polls, get feedback and opinion, and set reminders to enhance your team’s productivity.

• With drag and drop features, communicate with your team through visual aids, and pin important files and messages, and access them whenever needed.

• Flock also allows the users to build their own application via Flock API. From pop-ups and widgets to sidebar and slash commands, you can add distinctive features to these apps.

• Flock has strict control over user rights and data through TLS 1.2 data encryption and Amazon Web Services hosting.

Ryver ( Group Messaging with Chat) 

 FREE 14-Day Trial

 Paid - $49 /user/month upto 12 user/mo

Business Collaboration has never been easier. With Ryver, you can manage your team’s interaction in a simple, easy, and affordable manner.

• Group messaging allows unlimited file sharing, unlimited chats, and infinite conversation searching.

• With Ryver, you can avail unlimited free calling, crisp and clear audio and video call with shared screen space.

• Task management feature includes unlimited personal and team task board, tags, checklists, and assignments.

• Ryver employes Active Response Technology which reduces error-prone human response and eliminates slow reaction by replacing it with an automated and powerful response system.

• Easy integration with other tools like Dropbox, Evernote, Gmail, Hangouts, and more.

Wrike ( online IM with task manager)

  Free - 5 User

 Paid - 5-20 User ($9.80/user/month) 

For those of you who want a lot more than instant messaging, Wrike should be the ultimate pick. Bundled with great interactive features, Wrike lets you communicate with your team members, share updates, and work together on the projects. Here’s what makes Wrike interesting:

• Consolidate to-dos, customize the dashboard, create gnat charts, set a timeline and manage daily work with ease.

• Wrike has a collaborative proof tool that allows users to approve and review digital documents and eliminate all chances of miscommunication.

• Share interactive, real-time reports, and edit, or review them regularly.

 What do you think?

Communication and collaboration play a crucial role in all facets of the business. Not only does regular communication helps build a capable team, but also contributes to the development of the company.

The reason businesses use these instant messaging tools is to generate leads, engage with employees and team members virtually, and manage tasks efficiently. But do keep one thing in mind, when choosing the appropriate instant messaging for business, it's essential to consider your company's culture, team size, and the project types.

Of all these nine tools, which one do you think works well for business communication? Do you have any suggestions for us to include on this list?

Originally Published at Troop Messenger

Is Microsoft Teams Killing Slack?  But … it is difficult to know how seriously to take this without knowing true

The collaboration app battle between Slack and Microsoft Teams comparison is endless.

In this article, we're gonna be Comparing Slack vs Microsoft Teams war to know which is better for business

In the year 2016, Bill Gates was against the decision of purchasing its competitor Slack, instead, he wants the organization to improvise Skype for Business. The initial release of Microsoft Teams to the public happened in the year 2017, and very recently the stable release 1.2.00.4664 of the product happened this year in the month of February. As we understand most of the corporate work routines run on Office 365 suite, the Microsoft Teams is one of the essential parts of it.

On the other hand, Slack made its public appearance in the year 2013 by Stewart Butterfield. Recently Slack has launched a new logo in the month of January of this year, and there was much difference in opinions among netizens on the new logo as many of them liked the old logo when compared to the new one. Slack allows the users to check all the latest updates from @slackapi.

Initially, in the year, 2014 Slack has $43 million funding for its operations, to round it up to additional funding of $200 million in April 2016.

Though there are so many chat applications out there, now team conversations are more seamless and organized with Troop Messenger. We had performed a various in-depth analysis of our competitor’s tools to give you better insights into their pros and cons with our previous comparison blogs of Slack Alternatives, Flock vs slack, Ryver vs slack.

However, this time we made our best efforts to make you know the highs and lows of two rivals: the most popular. Let us look into the quick comparison at both the tools

Microsoft Teams Vs Slack: A Quick Infographic 
  

( Microsoft Teams vs Slack): The sign-up flow - Which Application Offers Smoother Setup? 

Though Microsoft Teams comes with Office 365 suite, the workplace collaboration application is open to all public with a free sign-up trial of one month. You can sign-up with any of your public domain mail ids such as Google, Yahoo, etc., or you can directly access your Microsoft Teams with your Microsoft domain id if you are a subscriber of Office 365.

Once you are done with entering your mail id and password, a verification code has been sent to your registered mail id. Now you can start using Microsoft Teams by downloading the desktop app or a Web app.

The Sign-up Process of Slack starts with creating a workspace. Slack’s unlimited free trial allows the users to log-in to it with their respective workspace URL with a limited set of features. Any user can create a workspace from scratch with any of their Gmail, Yahoo, etc., public domains. To finish the sign-up process you are asked to give your name and password.

Slack facilitates an unlimited number of workspaces in its Enterprise Grid pricing plan, where the users of can switch between one workspace to others within the user interface itself.

Our Verdict: The Sign-up process at Microsoft Teams is pretty simple and easy when compared to Slack.

 The similar post you might like:

• Discord vs Slack

• Ryver Vs Slack

• Yammer Or Slack

( Microsoft Teams vs Slack):  Inviting and Adding User 

This workplace collaboration application provides a feature where you can invite others (or) guests to your organization for enhanced to associate with them on your projects. Your guests could be your clients, vendors, and non-employees or any others.

The left panel of the user interface has the feature of “Invite others to the Org”. This will take you to the page of invite people, from where you can start inviting people by giving your guests email and their display name. Furthermore, you can choose the “Add more” option to invite more people. 

In addition to inviting guests to your organization,

Microsoft Teams allows you to add more people to your team. The moment you log-in to the application, it welcomes you with the features of “Add more people, Create more channels, Open the FAQ,”.

The intuitive user interface of Slack lets you to Invite people from the left panel of your workspace.

Guests like vendors, clients, contractors, freelancers, and others are invited to Slack in both of it's free and paid plans. Invite few or many at once with their public/private domain mail ids. You are also allowed to share an invite link to your invitees.

 Our Verdict: Slack allows sharing an invite link to its guests, whereas we don’t see this in Microsoft Teams.

( Microsoft Teams vs Slack): Guest Access Capabilities 

The concept of vendor-client collaboration with the workforce of your organization is quite crucial at times where they need to connect to the outside world to collaborate on various client projects.

Microsoft Teams send invites to others to communicate with the internal teams of the workplace. The other new player Troop Messenger also facilitates the in-house team with this guest collaboration feature, the Orange Member. Any user with their public/private mail ids can become an Orange Member to interact with the teammates of Troop Messenger.

The “Invite people” section of Slack allows inviting guests into the application.

Microsoft Teams vs Slack: Design (UI and UX):

Which Application Gives Comfort Over Chaos? let find out here

The UI and UX part of Microsoft Teams is quite engaging and engrossing to the user. You can simply understand the features and their functionalities just at the glance of the home page screen. All your teams are listed on the left panel dashboard along with the other features of “Activity”, “Chat”, “Calendar”, “Get the app”, “Store”, and “Help”. Few essential tools like One Note and Wiki are in-built in this application.

Start a new conversation with your teammates by sending the formatted text, with attachments, with smileys, GIFs, and with stickers to relish more personalized chat experience.

Also, check out for files that you had exchanged with other teams and team members, Microsoft Teams full tutorial with recent updates, along with a plus tab for more integrations. The people's pane of the user interface allows you to see all your team members in one place.

Despite Slack’s user interface looks simple and clean, sometimes the users often get confused with the navigational flow of the features and their functionalities. Your workspace name is displayed at the top of the left-pane with along with your name. This section further allows you to send direct messages to Slack bot and the other team members of your channel.

The other features that you could notice from the Slack user interface would be; @mentions, set a purpose, settings, starred channels, invite people and many more to include. 

 Our Verdict: Microsoft Teams user interface looks to be simple to understand and easy to use, whereas compared to Slack.

( Microsoft Teams vs Slack): Messaging, Audio, Video - Which collaboration is ahead?

Messaging across Microsoft Teams is quite interesting, as it allows the one-to-one user to be more collaborative with the features of file sharing, places, attachments, formatted texts, smileys, GIFs, Stickers, @mentions, meet now, and also lets the users integrate and use many third-party apps. 

for instance, you can integrate Trello for project management and YouTube for sharing your preferred videos. 

It is really good to see on the user interface with the feature of Meet now(video conferencing) literally at no cost. Microsoft Teams is extending this feature-functionality to its users in its free trail itself. But the users could not find the audio calling option anywhere on the user interface of the free trial.

Send direct messages in Slack by choosing your team members. This collaboration experience can be further enhanced with the associative features of Add a file from your computer, @mentions, smiley layout, post, code or text snippet, etc.,

When we move onto the sections of audio and video calling, now Slack supports audio-video calling in its free plan for one-on-one user chat, whereas you would not be able to share your desktop screen during a video call in the free plan, you would certainly migrate to Slack’s paid plan to avail this feature. While the new chat application in the block, the Troop Messenger is allowing the users the facility to share their screen for free during a video call.

 Our Verdict: Microsoft Teams allows the feature of, “Meet Now” in its free plan to make video conferencing with your team. Though Slack offers one-on-one audio-video calling, it doesn’t provide the same for workspaces in its free plan.

(Microsoft Teams Vs Slack): Integration :

Which Application is On Good Terms With All? Let's see here

The Microsoft Teams office collaboration application does support a wide range of integrations to help the user. This application allows the user to directly integrate all the necessary apps right away from the applications user interface itself.

When you try to open the “Store”, a feature from the left panel of the applications home page, you are taken to the world of diverse apps to integrate them into your teams with the option of uploading custom apps too

Slack supports more than 1500 app integrations into it. You are totally allowed to integrate a whopping number of apps of a distinct type. Tools related to project management, productivity, finance, file management, security, and compliance, etc.,

The Apps column of your workspace facilitates a provision to the user to directly browse apps and integrate them into your workspace. You are navigated to, “Browse Apps” page, where you can find the “View App Directory”, and, “Manage Apps...”, When you go to view app directory, you are taken to a new window, where a wide range of Apps for integration are segregated as per their domain area.

 Our Verdict: Slack supports more than 1500 wide range of app integrations according to the pricing plan the users choose.

(Microsoft Teams Vs Slack) : Pricing - Which Application Breaks the Bank?

Microsoft Teams comes in three different pricing variants. Any users across the world can, “Sign-up for free”, with limited features of unlimited messages and search, guest access, 300 maximum users, 140+ integrated apps and services, one-to-one group online audio and video calls, channel meetings and few more to go.

Microsoft Teams is a part of Office 365 Business Essentials and Office 365 Business Premium, with the pricing of $5.00/user/month and $12.50/user/month respectively.

Slack offers a free trial to its users for an unlimited amount of time with limited features, and then there are Slack Standard Subscription plan, Standard Plus plan, and with one more pricing variant of Enterprise Grid plan.

When you switch, 
to Slack’s standard subscription plan for Rs.500/active user per month when billed annually, with this upgrade the users can really experience the features of the full archive, Google authentication, Unlimited apps for integration, custom retention policies, forward emails into slack, custom profiles, etc.,

For Enterprise Grid plan,
the pricing page of Slack asks the user to contact sales for pricing structure. Here the Slack users can have unlimited workspaces, support for data loss prevention(DLP), shared channels between workspaces, built-in security, and compliance, 1 TB storage per member, etc.,

  Our Verdict:  Microsoft Teams offers its free plan only for a month, whereas the basic-free plan of Slack is meant for an unlimited amount of time.. 

(Microsoft Teams Vs Slack): File Storage - Which gives more? 

We know how important is the file storage for any team collaboration application. On a daily basis, the users of the organization exchange an unlimited number of files. In order to cater this, Microsoft Teams offers 2GB/per user and 10GB of shared storage in its free plan and it provides 1TB/user in both of its Office 365 Business Essentials and Office 365 Business Premium suites.

Slack offers 5GB total in its free plan, 10 GB storage per member in Standard plan, 20GB storage per member in Standard Plus plan and finally 1TB storage per member in its Enterprise grid plan.

 Our Verdict:  Slack offers 1TB storage only in an enterprise grid plan, but whereas Microsoft Teams provides 1TB of storage per user in both of its paid versions

(Microsoft Teams Vs Slack): Search   - Which has more Power? 

This instant team messaging application allows you to search for different things across the user interface. The search functionality is commonly available for Activity, Chat, Teams, conversations, files, wiki, etc., When I write about the search functionality of any applications, I understand that Troop Messenger has an extensive search capability to filter out different forms of data. The search by images, search by videos, search by location, global search filter, date-time filters, etc., are known to be few noted.

Slack allows you to search for messages, files, and channels. Furthermore, you can make a search for your files from all files.

The “Browse Apps”, the page also offers the user to search by name or by category to choose a wide range of app integrations into your Slack business collaboration tool

 Our Verdict: Slack has better search functionality.

(Microsoft Teams Vs Slack): Help Center - Which Application has a Better Helping Hands?

It would be quite helpful for almost all the users if they can navigate to the application’s help page within the application’s user interface. Microsoft Teams and Slack both provide such facility to their teams.

The left pane of Microsoft Teams home page shows you the help icon, from where you can traverse to feature help topics, training, what’s new and about.

You can narrow down your search from the search bar of Search help. On top of that, the users can see, “Microsoft Teams with a full tutorial with recent updates” to understand the latest upgrades from your team's page.

The moment you log-into the Slack,

the Slack Bot welcomes the user to assist them. It allows us to directly chat with bots for all the basic queries, and in case if it doesn’t understand our question, it allows the user to navigate to Help Center from the user interface itself.

 Our Verdict: Slack is a bit head of Microsoft Teams in extending help support with the help of Slack Bots.

Conclusion

It is quite essential to choose the best office collaboration application to run uninterrupted corporate office routines. Be it be Microsoft teams, Slack, the one thing to take into consideration is having smooth chat experience with necessary communication features.

And Hey, if you are still not sure which application pick out of these two geniuses, give Troop Messenger a try! It’s cheapest, simple, performance effects, and designed with exclusive features to meet all your office communication and collaboration needs. With Troop Messenger not only do we guarantee a secured chat, but also features like unlimited message history, high-quality audio and video calls, text search, unlimited groups, splashboard, live location tracking, sharing, storage, and data record.

Learn what benefits your business can get from Troop Messenger by scheduling a demo call with our team.

Disclaimer

The aim of the article is to be informative. We intend users to take an informed decision for an effective and productive experience. The comparison shown between Microsoft Teams vs slack in the blog is only towards that end and has no intention of pitting one against the other team collaboration app brands. The images, logos, any concepts, etc., used in this blog, purely belong to their respective companies or applications (Microsoft Teams and Slack).
 

Readers are advised to consult and confirm from the respective service providers regarding details of features, latest updates, prices, and policies before utilizing any of their services.
This further informs the reader that the views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this blog solely belong to the author’s perception, and not necessarily to the author’s employer, organization, committee or other group or individual.

You are here - On a page that talk talks about ‘Free Gantt Chart Software.’

Would it be too early to say ‘your search ends here’?

I guess not.

Because, here, you get to review an impartial analysis of top Gantt chart software with templates and examples.

This blog post needs your undivided attention.

5 minutes will be enough.

Let’s start with the basics.

Missing a deadline when you are on a serious project is never an option!

You need to accomplish your task with accuracy and precision, and that too within the fixed timeline. There are a lot of things running on the schedule that one needs to manage while working on a project.

Project management is not as easy as you think. You will have to keep a record of every step you take. It will be difficult to maintain such records if you don't have a Gantt Chart Software. Right from the duration for the task, name of the person who is assigned to the task, task milestone, how much investment was involved, and how much time is scheduled for each achieving each milestone-everything must be recorded with top-notch accuracy.

Trending Article  

For fulfilling these project management requirements, Gantt chart software always comes in handy. Unlike the traditional timeline charts and manual records, it focuses more on the interdependencies within tasks instead of emphasizing only on the broad picture.

What is a Gantt chart?

Gantt chart is a very important tool that is used to visually schedule and monitor the projects. Its main objective is to show the activities which are finished, the ones that are currently ongoing, and also those that are yet to start.

Henry Gantt was the first person to introduce the concept of a Gantt chart, and ever since it has become an integral project management tool. Gantt chart gives a visual or graphical representation of all the tasks undertaken in the project. It also gives the duration for each task and other important details with the progression of the project.

Generally, the bar of the graph changes its shading to show the progress in the project. Upon the completion of the project, the graph colour turns to a different shade. Also, it can show the name of the person to whom a particular task is assigned, and the milestones that are set to achieve the final goal. You can get your work done in a free Gantt chart software without buying one.

Gantt Chart Glossary you need to know:

• Tasks: Tasks are different types of work assigned to individuals which should be done to reach the goal. They come with the start date, end date, duration, assigned person and all the other details involved.

• Milestone: It’s a task with zero duration. It can indicate an important date in the project plan, for example, the initiation or completion of an important task. You might use it to make the completion dates of specific tasks. 

• Summary task: It is a group of tasks. They are made of sub-tasks which shows combined information.

• Task status: It shows the progress, percentage, and completion of the task.

• Dependencies: It shows the link and connection between different errands.

• Assigned resources: It indicates the name of the people assigned to specific tasks

Top 10+ free Gantt chart available online

Gantt project ( A Simple Gantt Chart)

 Price: Free

 Supported Platform: Windows, Linux, OSX

Here’s why we have placed Gantt project at the top position of this list: It’s available for free for both the personal and commercial uses.

Established in 2003, Gantt Project is not just a clone of MS project but a lot more. It is one of the most efficient and trusted free Gantt chart software. Gantt project will run anywhere where Java runtime is available as it is written in Java.

It is a desktop application which can allow you to:

• Manage the elements like task and milestones, including the initiation date, priority, duration, notes, and resources, etc.

• Create a hierarchy which shows cost, progress, and details of lower-level tasks displayed on the upper level.

• Draw dependency: dependencies between tasks, leads, etc

• Baseline: you can compare your current status with your previous plans by creating baselines

• Generate PDF / JPEG/ PNG files

• It can export and import to/from CSV for analyzing data in spreadsheet apps.

• Allows import and export to Microsoft projects.

Apart from all these great features, Gantt Project allows users to do collaborate with WebDAV servers and use cloud storage for storing all projects in the cloud. As you can see, Gantt project is a light and useful software which is very easy to use if you are a beginner in project management.

ProofHub: (Project management and Team collaboration Software)

ProofHub is a project management solution and collaboration software that makes work easier for teams. It facilitates planning, helps in tracking progress and allows real-time collaboration and communication so that efficiency increases and deadlines are met on time.

ProofHub is a project management software that has an exhaustive list of features and the Gantt chart is one of them. The Gantt chart in ProofHub gives you a timeline view of all your projects in one window. It helps in planning your projects and tracking the progress of tasks at any given time.

Here is what you can do with ProofHub Gantt charts.

• Add tasks and task lists to the Gantt chart.
• Clearly distribute roles and duties by assigning tasks to team members.
• Set dependencies between tasks and adjust schedules as work changes or deadlines shift.
• Highlight the critical path to see which tasks directly affect the start and end date of the project.
• Adjust the start and end dates of tasks with a single drag and drop.
• Associate milestones with tasks.

Pricing: ProofHub is priced at $99/month (limited time offer). It offers a free trial with complete access to all its features.

Platforms supported: Web-based, Google Play Store & App Store

Gantter ( A tool with Gantt Chart examples)

 Pricing: $5 per month per user. Gantter is also available for a 30-day free trial.

 Supported Platforms: Web-based apps.

Gantter is a cloud-based, community-powered, project scheduling and management tool. Its most distinctive feature is the community contributed task scheduling templates and the suggest and assist the engine,

With Gantter, you get an optimized user experience as it allows seamless integration with Google apps like Google Drive, Calendar, Hangout, and etc. Primarily,

Gantter has three editions:

 Gantter Cloud

 Gantter for Google Drive, and

 Gantter for G-Suite

Here’s what you’ll get with these editions: 

Features:

• Save or open the Gantter files to Gantter cloud/Google Drive.

• Access to millions of free community-based templates.

• Access 24/7 community-powered support, suggest and edit recommendation, and real-time collaborative editing.

• Auto-Generated WBS (Work breakdown structure), custom columns, built-in-analytics, Cost and task tracking, and resource auto-leveling. 

• MS Project import and export.

The team collaboration features let users bring multiple timelines and teams together, work on multiple tasks, and gauge the project completion. The Google edition is best for those who use Google drive and other G-suite applications.

Bitrix24 ( Gantt chart for multiple projects)

 Pricing: $69 per month for all team members

 Supported Platform: App Store and Google Play Store

Bitrix24 is a highly reliable Gantt chart software with the main specialty of moving tasks while still keeping their connections to compare current and baseline state at any time. This is mainly a team collaboration software that offers benefits of project management and CRM.

It can create a very professional Gantt chart for unlimited tasks and projects. It's another great option to work with 12-users. So even a small or average sized company can use it very easily.

It also monitors the workload on employees and identifies the task which can be uncertainly delayed.

Important features:

• Free unlimited projects

• Free unlimited subtasks

• Free 5gb online storage

• Multiple Gantt charts

• Free 12 users

• Task dependencies

• Cloud and on-premise

• Open source code and API

• Free mobile PM (Android and IOS)

With Bitrix, you can communicate with team members and also work collaboratively on the project by gauging the visual representation of tasks, milestones, deadlines, and dependencies. Other fancy features are office reports, checklists, templates report builders, etc.

TeamGantt ( Construction Gantt Chart )

 Pricing: $0 for small teams of three members. $49.5 and $74.5 for teams up to 5 and 10 members.

 Supported Platforms: Web-based

This project management suite allows users to manage task while reviewing them in a different visual or graphical format. It provides team communication, project planning, and resource management functions which are very intuitive and offers user flexibility to assign tasks, set deadline, and create priorities via drag and drop option.

Some of the exciting features of this project scheduling software are:

• Unlimited time for using the free version

• Drag and drop scheduling

• Customizable view through Google Calendar 

• Centralized storage of tasks, conversations, documents, and achievable.

• Review into team member’s workload and availability

• Exports to PDF but the watermark

• Auto-update on team progress

• Daily mail reminders

• File attachments

• Graphical formats for showing planned vs. actual timeline.

TeamGantt brings project scheduling online with the easy-to-integrate Gantt software. Users can invite teammates, co-workers, and friends to edit and view the Gantt chart.

Backlog (project management Gantt chart )

Backlog is an all-in-one online project management tool for task management, version control, and bug tracking. Bringing together the organizational benefits of project management with the power and convenience of code management, Backlog enhances team collaboration across organizations large and small. Plan work, track progress and release code updates right in Backlog.

Why Backlog

• Task management, bug tracking, and version control in one tool

• Visual Gantt and Burndown charts for better planning and resource management

• Built-in Git and SVN repositories

• Custom statuses and workflows to suit your project

• Mobile app for Android and iOS users

• Kanban-style boards for each project make it easy to view every task as they move through your workflow

GanttPro (Gantt Chart Software for Project Planning)

 Pricing: Free 14-day trial and $15 per user per month

 Supported Platform: Web-based

With this exclusive Gantt Chart software, you can easily create charts and visual graphs through existing templates of project planning. These charts can be shared with team members for better collaboration and project management.

Gantt pro has an extensive community of users who create and share editable templates for different projects.

Here are some of the features of Gantt Pro:

• Unlimited number of projects and premium support

• Multiple Gantt chart baseline and task filter

• Can allow one active project per member

• Customizable export to PNG, PDF, and XL format 

• Project estimation cost and working hours

• Onboarding and team progress tracking

• Resource management

• All the other basic Gantt chart features

Gantt chart is a great pick for people working individually. It’s also a good choice if you want to work with your group since it supports features like team training sessions, real-time notifications, and project role settings for members.

Good Gantt ( Diagram Gantt chart)

 Pricing: Free for one user without restrictions. Prices for use in a team depending on its size. It starts at 2.99 per person per month

 Supported Platform: Web-based

Many Trello users have been waiting for this for a long time. Now they have access to a Gantt Chart with deep integration in Trello. It will seem as if it is one application and you do not have to go to external pages during use. You can quickly plan a project by creating Trello cards directly from the Gantt Chart

Here are some of the features of Good Gantt :

• On one Gantt chart, you can view all your Trello boards

• You can set up integration with time trackers to keep track of the actual execution time of tasks by your employees

• Nice design

• Automate the movement of cards depending on the actions

• Evenly distribute the load between employees

• Group tasks and milestones

• ReTrack progress by the task

• Use hot keys for quick work

Rational plan ( with Gantt Charts, Timesheets)

 Pricing: Free trial and the paid plan starts from $19 per month (for cloud-hosted version).

 Supported Platforms: Linux, Cloud-based, On-premise.

This comprehensive project planning and scheduling software covers are available for free with Linux.

The rational plan offers a variety of project management features. It is available as a cloud-based solution as well as on-premise and it helps both the project managers and teams to develop a consistent project plan with the analyzed workload, allocation of resources, estimation of project cost, and management of the budget.

Rational Plan has two versions: You can either use cloud service or opt for an on-premise application.

On-premise- single version for Linux- It shows advanced planning through dynamic Gantt charts and timesheets. This single version will allow you to share the project with MS users. Gives you a chance to share the details about your projects to other users who are involved.

Cloud-based- Includes all the basic Gantt chart features for two users, two projects, 100 tasks, and 5 MB storage.

Here’s why Rational Plan is a great choice for Linux users:

• Schedule the project using duration driven activities.

• Use of recurrent, split tasks, and milestones.

• A visual way of tracking the baseline and dependencies

• Critical path detection

• Collaboration with team members and integration with Microsoft project files

Some other feature includes portfolio management, resource management tool, costs tracking, scheduling, time management, and all the basic Gantt chart features.

Tom's planner (online Gantt Chart Maker)

 Pricing: $ 9.95 per month

 Supported Platform: Web-based

It is Import projects from Excel, MS Project, Trello, and Basecamp an excellent web-based Gantt chart application. It requires no installation and has an easy drag and drop options with right click menu and task management.

Tom’s planner really stands unique when it comes to the collaboration feature. This project scheduling tool offers a free subscription with two-user limitations and offers most of the basic features.

With Tom’s Planner you can:

• Create professional Gantt charts and share them virtually

• Zoom in to check who’s doing what and how far they’ve progressed

• Drag and drop to make the edits and changes on the fly

• Import projects from Excel, Basecamp, MS Project, and Trello

• Embed charts with SharePoint, Wordpress, and Confluence

The free subscription can allow for 200 items in a schedule. It only lasts for one year. This software is recommended for beginners who want to have a basic knowledge of project management.

ProjectLibre ( Compatibility with Microsoft Project)

 Pricing: Free

 Supported Platform: Window, Linux, Mac OS.

ProjectLibre is another great project scheduling solution for your team projects. Unlike other software, it is not a complicated one. Its main objective is that all the company user should be able to learn to work in the chart even if they cannot afford it. That's the reason it is open-source software.

This open-source alternative of MS project has the following features:

• Gantt Chart

• Earned Value Costing

• WBS/RBS charts

• Network Diagram

• Resource Histograms

• Compatibility with Microsoft Project

The software has received various awards which proves that being free it can give the best results. You can translate it into any language. It has versatility which makes it much easier to work for a small or large business.

Hansoft (tools along with a Gantt chart template)

 Pricing: Varying rates depending on team members and type of installation

 Supported Platform: Cloud and On-premise

Hansoft is originated from Sweden. The Swedish company offers many project management tools along with a Gantt chart template. Many companies swear by this software because of the seven main features.

• You are allowed to refine your task from the backlog feature.

• Long term, as well as short term planning, can be viewed and modified.

• Supports Kanban, Waterfall method, hybrids, and Scrum

• Efficiency boosting feature like the acceleration of plan up to 20% 

• Real-time dashboard to stay informed to real-world data and workflow management

Hansoft has all the basic features like issue tracker, to-do lists, reports, resource allocation, integration, backlogs, and on-premise installation. So, you might want to change your mind if you are working on a big project.

Merlin project 4 (Professional Project Management for Mac)

 Pricing: $149 per year per user and $1,415 per year for 10 users 

 Supported Platform: Mac and iPad

It is the latest project management software from the project wizard. It runs specifically on Mac so before you go for this software make sure your team can work on mac.

It has all the basic features one Gantt chart software has and also it is user-friendly offering many possibilities. You can customize it as per your need. It can also be used offline. You can edit or modify your planning offline, and it will keep the updates on the chart when you are back on.

• Kanban View and Waterfall feature

• Find critical paths and distribute tasks with few gestures

• Link attachment to tasks in the project

• Stay up-to-date with cloud storage

• Compact on the iPhone

• Export and Import through MS project.

However, it allows only 30 days for working free without any restriction, but after that, you must purchase it. Or you can upgrade Merlin project 3 which is totally free.

Conclusion

There are many options outlined in this article. You can narrow the best choice by understanding what each software offers and comparing it with your company’s needs. If you are still confused about which one to pick, consider the following five capabilities of an ideal Gantt Chart software:

• It should support a maximum number of users and collaborators

• It should allow unlimited edits of the chart

• It should offer flexibility to work on multiple projects

• It should be easy-to-use with drag-and-drop features and one-click sync

• It should be compatible with the devices you and your team members use

Once you keep these five features in your mind and also consider your team’s requirement, the selection of the final pick will be a piece of cake!

It doesn’t seem like Slack and Asana are arch rivals. Rather they work together!

They both don’t make a direct competitor, as Asana is majorly focussed on Project Management, while Slack brings team conversations together. Nearly both tools have made their launch to the public in the years of 2012 and 2013 respectively.

Asana has its foothold across a wide number of customers globally. The clientele-stack of Asana is fully loaded with big names of diverse industries such as; Nasa, Google, Bill & Melinda Gates, foundation, yelp, Vodafone, Deloitte, Avon, The New York Times, Airbnb, Uber and the list goes on. Founded by Dustin Moskovitz and Justin Rosenstein as a Software-as-a-Service project management tool with the most recent valuation of $1.5B.

Interestingly, Slack occupies a good amount of share across the world with impressive clientele of Ticketmaster, Airbnb, Target, Capitalone, Oracle and many more.

Let’s look into a few exciting parameters of both the tools:

1. Getting Started

Asana

Find an easier way to manage broad range of projects and daily To-dos with Asana Project Management Software. The user can Sign-up to Asana with their Google Account or with their work email. They are able to access the application individually, as a part of the team, or from within the organization.

• Asana keeps things at the place and organized, so as the users can easily add tasks, conversations, teams, projects and invite other team members.

• While creating a new project, the users can make the choice either from a blank project or template, can choose teams, and also can make the privacy setting of project visibility to marketing teams and project managers.

• Assign tasks to the created project by choosing assignees, set due dates to each task, add more teammates, add them as task followers or project managers. With Asana create projects, organize tasks, assign responsibilities, bring scattered information to one place, track project deadlines and many more.

Slack

Conversations have to happen in one place to make the right decisions. Slack is a hub for all your team communication. Connect your team for all project discussions, share supported files, search team conversations, collaborate via one-on-one messaging, voice and video, etc., to gain optimum end-results.

• The users can sign-up to Slack workspace with any of their public/private email ids. They can sign-up to a new workspace altogether or can join an existing workspace if they have an invite from the admin.

• Can communicate with team members through channels, direct messages, voice, and video calls. Slack users can chat with bots for all kinds of help assistance.

• Slack users can sign into other workspaces within the application itself. With Slack give a project name for each channel, directly log in to the application with your workspace URL, catch up to innumerable integrations, talk to Slack bots with many more interesting features.

Getting Started Conclusion

Sign-up process of Asana completes in a few steps, while more steps are involved in Slack.

2. Ease of Use

Asana 

Creating projects and tracking those projects tasks are simple and easy at Asana. The user interface is neatly designed and is highly self-explorable. It lets you create tasks and to-dos, add sections to organize your tasks, set start date and end date to tasks, add an assignee to tasks to track the project progress.

How to use Asana tutorial for new users 

Team and Project management features are seen at the sidebar of the Asana application home page. Find my favorites, reports, teams, projects, team calendar, and more projects from here.

Slack

The user interface of Slack is quite appealing and impressive. Though it not as extensive as Asana, the UX is a little confusing. If we consider simple-to-use and the easy-to-understand user interface is one of the key performance indicators of measurement of any team collaboration tool, then Troop Messenger comes stands first in the row.

Getting Started with Slack - Tips, Tricks & More 

Workspace settings can be managed from the administration section of each workspace. Those settings would include; workspace sign-up mode and language, display name guidelines, default channels, etc., The best part is that the users have the provision to integrate to App Directory right from the user-side application itself.

Ease of Use conclusion

Asana, as a project management tool, has a number of user-interface navigations to work on project tasks, while Slack being a team collaboration tool has fewer hops.

3. Integration

Asana

Any tool that supports a good number of integrations makes teams job hassle-free. Asana helps the users to bring emails, storage, files, support tickets, and many more apps into the application for quick completion of tasks. It comes with more than 100 integrations like Zapier, Dropbox, Time Camp, Microsoft Office 356, Slack, Adobe Creative Cloud, etc.,

Slack

Slack comes with a humongous App Directory. It supports somewhere around 1500 app integrations and useful slack bots to ensure seamless office work routines. A wide-category of app directory includes; communication tools, daily tools, essential apps, new & noteworthy apps, and brilliant bots. Slack lets to build own APIs to suit your business requirements.

Integration Conclusion 

Asana has integrated Slack for all its team communications and work collaborations.

4. Support

Asana

At Asana Guide, one can find a detailed product’s help documentation, starting right from Asana demo to Sign-up process orientation. It extends live chat support to the users in its website. However, Asana also has a presence of a priority support option that is rendered by a dedicated account manager. This service is available for premium users and thus comes up with a cost. Hence if you are ready to spend more bucks on the tool then you can get a better support option in Asana.

Slack

Slack provides detailed and comprehensive help support to its users. Slack is quick at resolving all kinds of customer issues. At Slack, customer support looks into; resolving issues, automation, knowledge sharing, and collaboration. Few of the customer support integration app includes; Slaask, Help, and Zendesk.

Support Conclusion

Both Asana and Slack extend equally notable support services to the users. But I see no Live Chat Support at Slack’s website.

5. Platforms

Both Asana and Slack have their presence on all the major platforms such as Windows, Mac OS, Browser, Android and iOS. After you download the app from Google play store, you can look into the quick start guide for Android. The mobile app users of Asana can access My Tasks, projects, conversations, Inbox, Quick Add, and search from their respective Android apps.

Slack’s desktop and the mobile app user interface seems to be similar. From the mobile app, you are allowed to set your status, check your activity, allow you to select the time bound for Do not disturb status, invite people and many more..to go on.

However, the windows phone app is not supported by either of them.

6. Search Features

Asana

The use of search functionality in Asana is quite simple and easy to use. Filter out projects, tasks, conversations, teams, team members, project managers, etc., with this search feature.

You can further filter out attachments, project delivery deadlines statuses such as completed, and incomplete.  Asana search functionality allows the user to add custom filters as per the project requirement. 

Slack

At Slack, search for messages, files, channels, It lets the users find the relevant files from the search filters of “Your Files”, and “All Files”. Slack allows the users to filter out messages from My Messages/files, Starred items, current conversations, and from using time filters.

Search Features Conclusion

As Asana has more functional features, there exists a scope to filter-out more entities when compared to Slack.

7. Security and Privacy

Asana

Asana takes customers security seriously to keep their data secure, safe and private. It is SOC 2(Type I) and (Type 2) certified for extending security, availability, and confidentiality to the users. To reduce all types of vulnerabilities and loss of data risks, Asana gets the processes and practices validated by trusted third-party services.

Slack

Slack extends its best features to provide security to users data. The various compliance certifications and regulations of the application include; FedRAMP, SOC2(Type II), SOC3, HIPAA and more.

Security and Privacy Conclusion

Both Asana and Slack are good at facilitating the best security and privacy to the users.

8. Dashboard, Analytics, and Reporting Widgets

Asana

Asana’s Dashboard is extensive and provides a birds view of all the projects at one place. It gives the data of projects, team member allocation, project deadlines, project status updates, etc., Asana has planned to remove the dashboard and replace the same functionality with portfolios.

Analytics facilitates detailed reports of project status to ensure optimum transparency.

Slack

From Slack user interface, team members can add channels, set notification preferences, can send direct messages, invite people, star the channels, manage channel settings, etc., to perfectly collaborate with other team members.

Slack’s analytic section is divided into an overview, channels, and members. The overview area says about the number of messages exchanged, file storage used, apps and integrations installed and the other two divisions show the information of a number of channels added, and members along with the date of account creation.

Dashboard, Analytics, and Reporting Widgets Conclusion

Apparently, we don’t see any specific-dashboard type of feature in Slack.

Conclusion

This in accordance with the end-users discretion, if someone is looking for end-to-end project management, then Asana would be the ideal tool to opt for. For exclusive team communication, Slack makes the best choice. Asana’s teams integrate Slack for effective team collaboration.

Disclaimer

the
The aim of the article is to be informative. We intend users take an informed decision for an effective and productive experience. The comparison shown between Asana vs slack in the blog is only towards that end and has no intention of pitting one against the other team collaboration app brands. The images, logos, any concepts etc., used in this blog, purely belong to their respective companies or applications (Asana and Slack).
 

Readers are advised to consult and confirm from the respective service providers regarding details of features, latest updates, prices, and their policies before utilizing any of their services. 
This further informs the reader that the views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this blog solely belong to the author’s perception, and not necessarily to the author’s employer, organization, committee or other group or individual.

If you play PC games online, it’s safe to assume that you are familiar with Discord.

If not, this article can be a great resource because Discord has some of the best screen-sharing features, which can benefit both gamers and non-gamers.

You and up to 9 friends can simultaneously screen share on the discord server. At one time, 10 Discord users can conduct a live video chat, while they all are sharing their desktop screens, simultaneously.

Discord Screen Share feature has made Discord an incredibly powerful software for virtual collaboration, especially for teams that require online meetings and video calling from remote locations.

Discord has literally changed the way video conferences work. It’s peak concurrent users recently topped at 8.2 million.

Since Discord is spreading its wings as a real competitor of business communication and collaboration tools, we’ve got quite a few queries on ‘How to share screen on discord.’

In this article, we are going to show you 10 Easy-to-follow steps to configuring and using video calling and screen sharing feature of Discord:

What is Discord Application?

Discord is inarguably one of the most commonly used communication tools for online streaming and gaming.

Essentially, it’s a Skype Alternative for gamers, that is specifically designed to help the gamers coordinate and communicate through private servers which allow users to voice-chat and text with other people.

Discord application primarily functions with mobile and desktop platforms, and combines the features of:

• A message board
• A chat room
• A VoIP chatting system

Discord’s popularity has increased over the past few years and the app has over 250 million registered users.

Discord Screen Share

One of the most powerful features of Discord is Screen Sharing, which was added in August 2017. The screen sharing feature allows users on the Discord chat server to view and interact with your screen.

Alongside the screen sharing, you can also conduct video calling, simultaneously, on the chat servers that is a great in-built feature of Discord. The users do not need to install another software, a discord screen share extension or integrate a third-party application

Screen Sharing & Video Camera Features: On Desktop

If you are using Discord on PC, you can avail the following features:

1. Share Sound:
While you are sharing your discord or computer screen on Discord Server, you can also opt-out of sound sharing. This feature helps a great deal when you’re in a public place, and you want to cut down on the background noise to avoid disturbance.

You can opt-in or opt-out of sound sharing by toggling the sound icon between Off and On.

2. Swap from Screen Share to Video:
An icon located at the bottom of the video screen enables Discord users to swap from a screen share to only video calling, and vice versa.

At any time during the conversation, you can swap between the two. When swapping your computer screen, you can opt for which monitor screen to share. You can also opt for sharing only a specific application window.

3. Video Marquee
Discord Users who wish to see only a specific video and opt-out of seeing others can make use of the Video Marquee feature.

For this, you’d need to click on the user’s avatar, which will make the video to pop-out among others.

Screen Sharing & Video Camera Features: On Smartphone

If you are using Discord on your smartphone, you can avail the following features :

Unfortunately, the screen sharing feature is not available for Discord Smartphone users. So, you cannot avail of discord screen share for mobile.

Toggle Mute:

Should you wish to tune-out of the background or surrounding noise, the Toggle Mute feature can be a savior.

In the smartphone version of Discord, a user when on a video call, can mute their phone’s mic to prevent the outgoing sound on a chat server.

Tune Camera:

While making a video call through Discord mobile app, you can tune your camera, start and stop it from functioning at any time.

Similarly, there’s also an option to switch from front to back camera, and vice versa.

Audio Output (only for iOS):
This is an exclusive feature for Discord’s iPhone application. Audio Output is located on the top-right corner, next to the Switch Camera icon.

Using this, you can swap the audio output between your wireless headset or iPhone’s default speaker.

Step-by-Step Guide For Video Calling With Some Hacks

In this section, you’ll learn about the different ways to share your computer screen with another discord user.

To initiate video calling and screen sharing, install the Discord Application in your device, and configure video and audio hardware on Discord client.

a) Camera Settings

Step 1: Find the ‘Setting’ icon at the bottom left side of your screen, and click on the settings.

Step 2: To adjust your Video and Voice chat settings, look for the ‘Voice and Video’ Option under the ‘App Settings’ category on the left-hand menu.

Step 3: Should you wish to change the video settings, scroll down to find ‘Video Settings’ and opt for ‘Video Camera Hardware’. You can also do a test video.

b) Connecting with Users

Step 4: On the top-left panel, find Discord icon, and navigate to ‘Homepage.’ Click on the ‘Friends’ icon to open the list of friends on your discord server.

Step 5: Hover over the user’s name, and opt for Video calling.

Step 6: Click on the Video icon to enable a video conference with the user

Step-by-Step Guide For Discord Screen Sharing With Some Hacks

For discord screen share in the server, you’d need to initiate a Video call using the steps defined above.

Let’s proceed to Step 6 and see how you can enable screen sharing via Discord, and peek into your friend’s desktop.

Step 7: As the video calling is in process, look for a screen sharing icon present on the bottom of your screen. You can identify a screen-sharing icon that resembles a computer display with an arrow at the center.

Step 8: Click on this icon to enable screen sharing of your PC, and opt between sharing ‘Your Entire Screen’ or ‘Application Window.’

Step 9: You can further interchange share screen discord and video calling features by clicking on the same icon.

Step 10: To Stop sharing the screen, you can hover back to the ‘screen share’ icon and opt for ‘More Screen Share Options,’ and ‘Turn Off Screen Sharing.’

Discord Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. What to do when screen sharing doesn’t work?

Discord sure is a great tool to enable screen sharing and video calling, but the screen sharing feature has been reported to have some bugs.

‘Discord screen share black screen’ bugs are common and reported by multiple discord users on the server.

Many Discord users have reported this issue, where the screen either freezes or turns black. It can be rectified within a few seconds. Here’s how:

• The first option is to restart the PC. Open the Discord application again. Restart the Video Call and Screen Sharing.

• The second option is to look for GPU because in some cases, the screen turns black because of the automatic switching of GPU. For this, update the GPU driver to the latest version and restart the application.

• Clear all the junk files and cache of Discord application, so you do not face any difficulty while sharing a screen with someone.

• If the issue still persists or you notice discord screen share flickering, it’s safe to assume that the application has been corrupted, so the next step would be uninstalling the application completely, and reinstalling it.

Q2. Discord Screen Share Audio Not Working

Another commonly asked FAQ about Discord Screen Sharing is about Discord Screen Share Audio. Disable audio is a bug encountered by users during screen sharing or video calling on the chat server.

We’ve received queries about discord screen share audio not working.

With the latest updated, this bug has reportedly been fixed, but if you still face a similar issue, here’s how you can resolve it:

• Usually, the audio issues can be resolved by confirming whether or not the Sound button is toggled ON.

• When sharing screen opt for a particular ‘Application Window’ instead of ‘Entire Screen.’ This helps a great deal with avoiding sound issues.

• Clear all the junk files and cache of Discord application, so you do not face any difficulty while sharing a screen with someone.

• If the issue still persists and discord screen share has no audio, it’s safe to assume that the application has been corrupted, so the next step would be uninstalling the application completely, and reinstalling it.

Final Words

Discord, undoubtedly, has emerged as one of the highly popular and top performing chat applications for gamers.

While it has earned it’s an identity for text and voice calling features, Discord Screen sharing is definitely a good addition.

Using Discord, gamers can interact and learn a great deal from each other via features like VoIP audio and Video calling and Screen Sharing.

By following the 10-steps mentioned in this article, you can easily set up a video call with another discord user and share a screen with them.

In case you’ve got more queries about Discord features and functionalities, let us know in the comments section below, and we will scratch our next article on that topic.

Storage Almost Full!

‘To Ensure normal use, please delete files to free up internal storage space.’

I am sure you receive a ‘storage full’ warning once in a while unless your device is equipped with a cloud file-sharing system.

Receiving these storage warnings can be frustrating, especially when you’ve important files that you cannot risk losing.

That’s where File Sharing Sites come into the picture. With these storage systems, you can transfer large-sized files conveniently, simplify server upkeep, and easily collaborate on-the-go.

Cloud File sharing, apart from individual users, has also become a key function in Enterprise use, which explains why:

• 39% of cloud business data is used for file-sharing purposes.
• 34% of uploaded data have sensitive and confidential information that includes personally identifiable information.
• An average company shares documents and files with over 800 different online domains.

What is File Sharing with pros and cons

With File Sharing Software, users can have controlled and centralized visibility of files at different stages of the data lifecycle, which helps with finding, protecting, editing, sharing, and managing sensitive data at any point in time.

Pros of File Sharing

• Transfer small & large files over a secure network connection.
• Easily collaborate with multiple people across the globe.
• No need to maintain a central online file server

Cons of File Sharing

• Bandwidth requirement is often costly.
• Hard to trace revisions once the file has been shared publicly.
• Higher risk of acquiring malware or ransomware from a remote file

Types of File Sharing:

• File transfer protocol programs (FTP):
  Example: Cyberduck, Mozilla Firefox

• Peer-to-peer networks:
  Example: Skype, Slack, Troop Messenger

• Removable storage media
  Example: Memory sticks, memory cards, optical discs, and removable hard disks

• Online file-sharing services
  Example: Box, OneDrive, Google Drive, Dropbox, iCloud Drive, Tresorit

How to Select Your Platform: 

Choosing an appropriate File sharing Platform is all about understanding the storage, sharing, and synchronization needs of your enterprise.

You’d need a thorough understanding of all the key features, pros, and cons of each file-sharing software to make a final selection.

In this article, we’ve done the same. Consider this article a directory of top shortlisted file sharing sites. Go through the pros, cons, and pricing, of each tool and select your ideal platform, keeping in mind the following features:

• Security and Encryption
• Compatibility on different OS and Devices
• Storage Limitations
• Pricing

Box

Box was literally the first-ever cloud-based media storage service and file-sharing sites to grab the attention. Box allowed it’s users to centralize all their data. It also offered easy collaboration on documents shared.

It is now known as secure content management and business collaboration tool.

Pros:

• Meets compliance requirement
• Integrated with an enterprise security system
• Allows Workflow Configuration
• Work at unprecedented Speed

Cons

• Starter plans have very limited features
• File previewing from computers and devices is complex

Pricing:

• Individual Plans: Starts at INR 785 per month
• Business Plans: Starts at INR 389 per user per month
• Business Plus: Starts at INR 1881 per user per month

Ideal For:

Enterprises and Large-Scale companies that require organisation of huge data systems across different locations.

2. DropBox

DropBox offers a lot more than secure file storage. Dropbox, as a file-sharing website, has established its identity as a state-of-the-art workspace where teams, content, and tools come together to collaborate.

Dropbox allows creation, storage, and sharing of cloud content from Google Docs, Slides, Sheets, MS Office files, alongside traditional files.

Pros:

• Large network and number of users
• Secure sharing of files and documents
• Integrated desktop experience
• Files transferred across devices are always encrypted
• Team collaboration, anywhere, at anytime
• Easy Integration with tools like Slack and Zoom
• Integrations with over 100,000 third party applications

Cons:

• New collaboration features and solutions are confusing
• Personal plan offers only 2GB space for Dropbox Transfer

Pricing:

• Standard: 5 TB of secure space:$15 / user/month, starting at 3 users
• Advanced: Unlimited Space: $25 / user/month, starting at 3 users

Ideal For:

• Medium and Small-scale companies which do not need advanced features
• Users who are looking for a secure space to back up their critical data
• P2P file sharing

3. Google Drive

Google Drive’s Enterprise Plan offers a simple and secure way for businesses and teams to work together and collaborate over a project in the cloud.

Drive was unarguably the first companies that brought together document collaboration and cloud. It’s Google Docs Suite made it a huge success.

This file-sharing program boosts collaboration with features that allow users to request approval, track revisions, and assign tasks.

Google Drive is 50% faster when it comes to finding files. Search features use AI to understand the need and surface only relevant content.
 

Pros:

• Google Docs, Sheets, Slides and more
• Enterprise Grade Security
• Enterprise-Grade Management tools
• Can be accessed via desktop, mobile, web
• 24/7 email and phone support
• Compatible with more than 100 file types
• Organize Automatically

Cons:

• For Collaboration across Google Drive files, a Google Account is compulsory
• Sharing Settings can be complex at times

Pricing:

$8 per active user per month

Ideal For:

• People having a Gmail account
• Small and Medium organizations
• Peer to Peer File Sharing

4. Apple iCloud Drive

iCloud drive has been called as apple’s version of Dropbox. iCloud Drive is primarily cloud-based, which makes sharing of data overdrive very easy. It also allows users to sync different type of content between devices.

Apple has been steady at releasing improved versions of the iCloud suite. The new iOS devices and Mac computers are now equipped with iCloud drive of latest versions, which come ins-built so that the files in either of Apple devices can be synced automatically.

Pros:

• Any type of file that can be accessed from anywhere
• Organize files with different folders
• Rename and tag files
• Original, full-resolution photos automatically uploaded
• Easy iCloud photo sharing
• Invite people to work on a file or document
• Send private link
• No need to add manage versions, create copies, or add the email attachments

Cons:

• Very limited integration with Android users

• Limited integration with Windows user

• New users only get access to 5 GB storage

• Limited Business Support
  
  

Pricing:

Prices vary in different geographical locations.
 

Ideal For:

• iPhone and Apple product users
• People who frequent share files with Apple users
• File sharing iTunes

5. Egnyte

Egnyte is also a file-sharing site that offers data governance and reduces the risk of a data breach. As content’s value increases, the potential threat to breaches increase too.

With Egnyte, the users can have a control and centralized visibility of files at different stages of data lifecycle, which helps with finding, protecting, and managing sensitive data at any point of time.

Pros:

• Rapidly discover sensitive data
• Detect potential exposure
• Guard data against malicious sharing and accidental sharing
• Ensure only the right people get access to sensitive data
• Avoid operation disruption
• Enforce data handling policies
• Extra backup copies are saved during file transfer
• Robust mobile access

Cons:

• More complex to use than other basic services
• Lacks custom support

Pricing:

• Office Plan: $8 per employee per month, 5-25 employees and 5 TB of online storage
• Business Plan: $20 per employee per month,25-100 employees and 10 TB of online storage
• Team Plan: $10 per employee per month, 1-3 employees and 1 TB of online storage 

Ideal For:

• Administrators and companies that need to frequently share confidential data 
• Organizations supporting various operating systems
• Organization working across various devices

6. MediaFire

MediaFire makes storage and file sharing simpler than ever. It’s clean UI and easy navigation makes it one of the most widely used file sharing applications.

Mediafire allows users to share, collaborate, store, and get an easy access to the documents and files. Files can be shared via email, link, and social network.

MediaFire users can store any file type, project files in specified folders, and of large size.

Up to 10 GB of space is free for individual use, hence it’s a great tool to store all the photos, audio, and videos.

Pros:

• Always have access to important files
• Unlimited Bandwidth
• Unlimited downloads
• Multiple uploads at once
• 10 GB free storage space
• One-time links
• Organize files with ease
• Easily share after uploading
• Available on iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Windows, and Android

Cons:

• Basic plans have a lot of on-screen ads
• Limited collaboration features

Pricing:

• Pro Plan: $3.75 per employee per month
• 1 TB of storage space per user, ad-free sharing, and priority support.
• Business Plan: $40 per employee per month, 100 TB of storage space per user, ad-free sharing, and priority support.

Ideal For:

• Employees and teams needing quick file transfers from one member to another
• Users who exchange files and documents via emails

7. OneDrive

With OneDrive, you can save your files, photos, videos, and documents, and get them from any device, at anytime, from anywhere.

Users can share files, photos, folders via email, Facebook, or iMessage and text. You can also create polished content, present with clarity, and collaborate with team members in real-time, by using Office365 with OneDrive. It is one of the best free file sharing sites.

Pros:

• Integration with Sharepoint
• Offline Access
• OneDrive is encrypted using SSL
• Granular permission setting
• Document Scanning
• Easy to use with Office
• Expiring Links

Cons:

• No support for Mac OS
• OneDrive’s latest version suffers from slow upload
• Slower download speeds.

Pricing:

• One Drive Basic Plan: 5 GB storage space, Available for Free
• One Drive Paid Plan: 100 GB storage space, Available at INR 123 per user per month

Ideal For:

• Businesses that work on Windows PCs
• Windows 10 file sharing
• Individuals with an Outlook account

8. SecureDocs

With SecureDocs, you get to own a private and virtual data room, where files can be shared, stored, and edited in real-time. SecureDocs is simple, convenient, and powerful. It has all the features you need to keep your files secure, easily accessible, and up-to-date.

Pros:

• Drag and drop folders
• Immediate Set-up
• Unlimited users and data
• Flat-rate pricing, no additional fee
• Activity alerts
• User actions with Tracking of IP address
• Two-factor authentication
• Document Watermarking
• Permission-based user roles

Cons:

• Challenging to configure permissions
• Flat pricing not suitable for individual use
• Limited integration.

Pricing:

$250 per month

Ideal For:

Companies and Virtual workplaces where security is a top priority.

9. SugarSync

SugarSync was first launched in 2008. It functions on both Mac or Windows and allows easy sync of folders to the cloud account. Sugarsync caters to both Individual and business users.

Pros:

• Easy to restore files online
• Automatic file sharing
• Remote wiping of data
• Creation of public links to documents
• Transport Layer Security
• Files Encrypted in 256-bit AES format
• Online Backups
• Mobile applications are available for iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, & Android devices.

Cons:

• No free plan option
• Syncing speeds can be slow
• Pricing:
• Personal Plan: $9.99 per month
• 250 GB of storage space
• Business Plan: $55.00 per month
• 1 TB of storage space

Ideal For:

• Users with messy folders
• Businesses lacking a backup solution.

10. WeTransfer

WeTransfer is unarguably one of the simplest file-sharing services used to send large-sized files all across the world. WeTransfer was founded in 2009 and ever since it has been used as a file-sharing software.

WeTransfer’s primary service can be used for individual and business personnel to send any file to an email address, or simply by creating a one-time link which can be accessed by other people.

Pros:

• No account required
• Immediate Set-up
• Extremely easy to use
• Activity alerts
• Integration with Slack, ThunderBird, and Command Line
• Integration with Firefox, Chrome, and Sketch
• Track Download history
• Password-protect transfers

Cons:

• No security features
• Limited transfer of 2GB
• Limited integration.

Pricing:

• Free Forever Plan:
• No Storage
• Send up to 2 GB
• WeTransfer Pro: $12 per month
• 1 TB storage
• Send up to 20 GB

Ideal For:

• Companies and Virtual workplace where One-time file transfers are required
• Individual with ‘resend and delete transfers’ requirement
• Mega file sharing
• Businesses requiring Pro page and URL

11. Tresorit

Tresorit guarantees an ultra-secure place for storage, syncing, and sharing of files in the cloud. As a large file-sharing site, it offers state-of-the-art privacy in compliance with strong data protection plans.

Certified for ISO 270001, Tresorit is also in compliance with HIPAA, GDPR, and multiple security protection requirements.

Pros:

• End-to-end encryption
• Secure lost/stolen devices
• Protect organization’s privacy
• Take 1,000 GB storage anywhere
• Recover deleted files
• Keep data protected from ransomware
• File sharing with encrypted links
• Manage users and groups with security policies

Cons:

• Fewer integrations

Pricing:

• Small Business Plan: $20 per user per month,1 TB storage per user, starting at 2 users
• Business Plan: $12 per user per month,1 TB storage per user, starting at 10 users
• Enterprise Plan: $24 per user per month,1 TB storage per user, starting at 100 users

Ideal For:

Businesses with a lot of options

12. Sync.com

Sync.com is a Toronto based cloud-storage service that ranks among the top five dropbox alternatives with free service plans.

Synch, as a secure file-sharing site, makes it convenient to share, store, and access files from just about anywhere. Apart from that it protects the content with end-to-end encryption and ensures that the data shared or transferred in the cloud is secure, safe, and 100% private.

Pros:

• Control access with passwords
• Expiry dates of link shares
• Email notifications
• No file size in business plan
• No traffic limit in business plan
• Access files from centralized folders
• Activity logs
• Granular user permission
• Restrict Downloads
• HIPAA Compliance

Cons:

• Slow upload
• Slower download speeds.

Pricing:

• Standard Plan for teams: 1 TB storage space per user, Available at $5 per user per month
• Plus Plan for teams: 4 TB storage space per user, Available at $5 per user per month
• Advanced Plan for teams: 10 TB storage space per user, Available at $15 per user per month

Ideal For:

Businesses and Enterprises where content security is the main concern

13. pCloud

pCloud, is one of the best file-sharing sites that boosts collaboration with features that allow users to request approval, track revisions, and edit files on the go.

Pros:

• Access on all devices
• Unbreakable security with pCloud Crypto
• AES 256-bit for encrypting files at rest
• TLS protocol to protect them in transit.
• Keep private files confidential
• Share and collaborate

Cons:

• No support for Mac OS
• OneDrive’s latest version suffers from slow upload
• Slower download speeds.

Pricing:

• Premium: 500 GB Storage One-Time payment of $175
• Premium Plus: 2 TB Storage One-Time payment of $350

Ideal For:

• Businesses that work on Windows PCs
• Individuals with an Outlook account

Some File Sharing FAQs

How to set up file sharing in Windows 10

• Click Start > Control Panel
  
  In control Panel, Navigate to Network and Internet, and open ‘View Network Status and Tasks’

Click ‘Change advanced sharing settings’.

Click ‘Turn on network discovery’, and then click Apply.

To enable file sharing, click ‘Turn on file and printer sharing’ and Save changes.

2) How to turn off file sharing in Windows 10

• Click Start > Control Panel

• In the Control Panel, open ‘Network Status and Tasks’

Click ‘Change advanced sharing settings’.

To disable file sharing, click ‘Turn off file and printer sharing’ and Save Changes.

Over to You Now:

Like I said before, choosing a suitable File sharing Platform is primarily understanding the storage, sharing, and synchronization needs of your enterprise.

You’d need a thorough understanding of all the key features, pros, and cons of each file-sharing software to make a final selection.

We hope this article has helped you with learning about the core features of each tool, and what you can expect with their different plans.

Now you can free up your device’s space and keep your confidential files in a secure platform, without having to worry about the visibility, security breaches, and the limited storage warnings of your primary device.

In case we’ve missed your favorite file-sharing software, hit the comment box below and let us know how we can make this list better.

Switching to remote work is a trend that dominates. The latest reports indicate doubling the number of remote workers in the recent 10 years. And despite the famous Yahoo ban in 2015 that forced the employees to return to the offices, the trend for remote job opportunities keeps on expanding globally.

Among driving forces facilitating this growth, there are new managerial practices and innovative tech solutions that enable top companies to increase hiring remote teams.

Lack of effective tools, however, might hinder the productivity of your team so making the right choice in terms of software that would empower the team collaboration, will save you from facing numerous challenges.

 Below there is a list of 10 ultimate tools you will find useful when working with a remote team.

Troop Messenger 

When searching for more interactive team collaboration, Troop Messenger comes as a leader. It will satisfy any team’s needs due to the simplicity of its implementation in an entrepreneurial environment.   

Working as a fully-fledged business communication platform, Troop Messenger gives you instant access to unlocking a great number of functions: 

Instant messaging

Making video calls

Conducting video conferences

Sharing files

Desktop sharing

Creating complex schedules.

Arranging work schedule within Troop Messenger will let you keep project info fully organized and, thus, secure all the project performance data.

GoToMeeting

It is optimal in case you need a tool for arranging online meetings. It works both ways, with customers and team members. The tool provides a high-quality connection and ranges as the most reliable software. With support assisting you 24/7 and instant availability of joining or hosting the meeting options, you can start a meetup, webinar, or a regular call hassle-free.

GoToMeeting is an ultimate communication choice for remote teams. A click on the link across any device will be a signal for activating various options: 

• Sharing the screen

• Making notes over the images

• Recording the conversations

• Settings for adjusting the visibility of participants’ faces

ProProfs

ProProfs Project is not an over the top project management software but has made its name in the market for it's easy to use UI and simple features.

From startups to enterprises, anyone can use this robust project management tool to streamline workflow, boost team communication, and improve team productivity.

ProProfs Project helps you to:

• Create & track projects on one dashboard

• Track time spent on tasks by each team member

• Collaborate with your teams anytime, anywhere

• Create insightful reports in seconds

• Bill your clients automatically

TMetric

When you have to arrange the effective collaboration of your remote team, the first issue you need to address is means of providing accuracy of time calculations. 

TMetric is an effective time tracking tool as it not only enables recording data on your work time in a single-click from any gadget but also has additional functions coming handy for remote work mode:

• Creating an invoice

• Generating various reports (including the ones that will summarize your team performance on the project)

• Setting various pay rates for billable hours

• Offline time tracking

• Tagging projects for facilitating the workflow

• Available on Windows, Mac OS, Linux, Android and iOS

• Integrating with 100+ apps remote teams use in their work.

This Timesheet software help allocate tasks to employees, track time spent, keep track of billable time to charge customers, calculate payroll, create invoices and keep track of expenses. Here's a quick list of 10 different timesheet software solutions and how they can help you manage your team better. 

BlogIn

BlogIn is beautifully simple internal blog and knowledge-sharing platform for teams of all sizes. The internal blog acts as a central information hub or a ‘virtual bulletin board’ for the company, allowing all employees to stay in the loop with what’s going on in and around the office.

At the same time, the blog opens a new, transparent, two-way communication channel inside an organization, where everyone can ask a question and get the information they need to make faster and smarter decisions.

The internal blog is intuitive and easy to use, so everyone can quickly get on board, which is one of the reasons why it works so well as the internal communication tool.

• Share internal news and knowledge

• Improve internal communication

• Share files

• Boost company culture

• Enables transparent, two-way communication

Usernap

"Show, don't tell" - use screenshots and illustrations to communicate issues accurately and quickly. Usersnap's widget can be easily installed on your staging website or use the browser extension to capture anything you see and want to share.

Microsoft, Facebook and many web companies employ Usersnap for issue reporting, QA, user acceptance testing and customer feedback. Visual bug reports and feedback saves you time and makes remote working so easy.

• Browser screen capture and annotations
• Tickets include metadata (screen size, browser version, URL and console logs)
• Assign, label, track and close tickets easily
• Integrates with 30+ tools such as Jira and Asana
• Live commenting
• Unlimited guest access

JotForm

JotForm is an extremely versatile online form builder which is suited for a team of any size. It doesn’t require any development skills as it’s essentially a drag-and-drop form builder. So, your entire team can benefit from it. It has a surprising amount of use cases which you can apply to your business or use it to manage your team.

You can use it to clock in the work hours of your employees, collect feedback, assign tasks, open bug reports and the list goes on, it’s all up to how creative you can get with it.

The best part is that you have a wide variety of customization options for the forms you create. You can prevent things from getting boring for your team and have a sustainable remote team. As there are way too many templates and customization options you can check a form design guide they have prepared.

• Easy to use and implement

• Makes collaboration seamless

• Loads of customization options

• Wide range of use cases

SmartTask

SmartTask is a simple yet powerful task and project management tool, which will help your team be more effective and efficient than ever before.

It brings the organization's tasks at one place thus everyone in a team has a clear overview of the team's progress, who's responsible and has clarity on the deadlines.

The tool enables you with the following features:

• Tasks, Projects and CRM in one tool

• Custom Fields to customize your tasks

• Multiple Projects in one single view with Portfolio feature

• Real-time communication and notifications

• Available on Desktop, Android and IOS

Tameday

Tameday is the all-in-one workspace for teams and small businesses that are struggling to manage their projects and workloads with various separate tools and email- Bringing everything into one place

Tameday helps you to:

• Get rid of using email for internal communication by using Tameday's built-in chat feature.

• Keep your work and to-dos in one place within Projects,

• Communicate and share files with your team who are working remotely.

• Keep in contact with your clients by allowing them to see how projects are progressing,

• Keep you on track with to-dos, discussions, project due dates and your own personal calendar.

Wrike

Wrike is a perfectly illustrative example of how to integrate a favorite task management tool with time tracking software so that it could enhance your remote team productivity.

Wrike helps prioritize projects easily due to its intuitive design. It keeps all the info on tasks you perform. Additionally, when applying integrations in Wrike, you can:

• Estimate the project resources with precision,

• Adjust timelines for specific tasks,

• Reassign tasks to accommodate urgent requests

• Tailor your tasks to projects goals.

ClickUp

It is a productivity platform that helps you create tasks and plan your projects. While implementing ClickUp, you have the unique opportunity to organize the scattered tasks into the unbroken workflow. 

With ClickUp, you get the abundance of options pertaining to:

• commenting on tasks,

• advanced task storing,

• agenda creating

• keeping your data as secure as you choose by regulating privacy settings.

Parabol

Parabol is software not bloated with extra functions as its primary goal is to provide your team with ‘free online retrospectives’. This part of project management practice is crucial for further planning and better estimation of the coming projects. This tool provides transparency of team priorities and accountability for task performance.

It is a perfect tool for remote work enabling cross-functional cooperation within a team by synching tasks in a dashboard on a daily basis. With Parabol, you can: 

• plan the day/week,

• mark the milestones upon a task completion (for monitoring the team progress),

• edit org charts

• send retrospectives (‘summary of a meeting’) email to your team

I Done This

Creating complex schedules.

It is a tool suitable for remote teams of any size. It is of particular interest to managers who can monitor top team accomplishments in real-time, and, hence, save tons of time on holding meetings. 

Applying this software, your team gets access inside the app to:

• commenting on their tasks,

• generating word clouds marking the most frequent task components,

• notifications of a reminder email (‘What have you done today?’) for sharing the daily accomplishments

• "visuals," which breakdown accomplished tasks with color coding

Monday

Suitable for any team size, it is a tool that will let you plan your tasks on a timeline so that nothing will fall between slots, point assignees and, thus, enhance accountability, and collaborate instantly for increased business productivity. 

The featured Monday options that you will surely like include the opportunity:

• to update the status on the task,

• to choose a customizable template for your sprints from the impressively big selection,

• Email notifications – get notified by email

Clarizen

It is a team management solution designed to facilitate remote teams collaboration. The software provides instrumental features to unite resources for more productive planning.

Implementing this tool means that your team can apply:

• reporting templates,

• creating their own dashboards,

• tracking tasks of various kinds in real-time

• adjusting the time and resource allocation to current business goals in terms of project profitability

Quip

It is a productivity suite that unites spreadsheets and documents into the shared folders.

It is perfect in terms of goal settings for your remote team. It facilitates collaboration by sending reminders and instant sharing documents from one place. Your team will not have to dig deep to retrieve the documents.

Quip is accessible across any device so that you and your team can work from any place. Applying Quip, you can create:

• Project plans

• Territory plans

• Checklists

• Meeting notes

• Documentation

You can work over multiple projects: the sidebar is available from any screen in Quip so you can easily access your work, your favorites, and your teammates.

Teamwork

Teamwork Projects is an intuitive, feature-rich project management tool that lets your team reduce the complexity of collaboration.

It allows you to work together with context, transparency, and accountability — and with increased visibility and improved communication, you can keep collaboration at the core of everything you do.

Most Exciting Features 

• Collaborative workspace

• Flexible and feature-rich

• Instant messaging with Embedded Chat

• Portfolio feature to help you oversee multiple projects

• Resource management

LeadGen 

LeadGen App is a lead capture form-builder tool for digital marketers. It helps marketers build custom lead form and test them for best conversion rates. LeadGen App works via form embed code that works on all major landing pages and website editor platforms and via direct link sharing as well. The forms can be integrated to marketing software like CRM and email campaign tools.

LeadGen App also provides an analytics dashboard to check and improve the performance of the forms. Run AB tests to compare conversion rates of different form variations on a single landing page. Maximize your lead generation potential by testing & iterating your forms.

Creating complex schedules.

Wrapping it up:

A trend for global cooperation and delivering your service internationally are motivating factors for many companies to increase remote hiring. With the tech tools presented in our list, remote team collaboration is unlimited due to enabling uninterrupted workflow, effective communication and full accountability of the work result metrics.

Originally Published at Troop Messenger